Ellen DeGeneres Once Turned Her Biggest Scandal Into A Joke

The public's perception of Ellen DeGeneres changed irrevocably in July 2020 when several of her former employees detailed the toxic workplace backstage at "The Ellen Show" in a shocking BuzzFeed News exposé. One Black former employee alleged that several of her co-workers were racist towards her, including ridiculing her for flagging racially insensitive language in the show and for offering tips on how to make things more inclusive. Another former employee professed that they got sacked from the position they had held for a year after taking a month's leave to recuperate following a suicide attempt. Similarly, another ex-staffer claimed that HR wasn't too pleased about their vacation requests to recover from a car accident and to attend family members' funerals. 

As Deadline reported, DeGeneres addressed the accusations during a September 2020 episode. "I know that I'm in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility. And I take responsibility for what happens on my show," she asserted, later adding, "All I want is for every single one of [my 270 employees] to be happy and to be proud to work here." The comedian also apologized and promised that they had shuffled things around to create a better working environment for everybody. Regardless, the iconic talk show's run came to an end in 2022. But, just a couple of years later, DeGeneres managed to find some humor in the situation.

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Whenever an episode of Ellen DeGeneres' talk show drew to a close, she would leave viewers with a simple message: "Be kind to one another." Naturally, these words took on a somewhat ironic tone after the toxic workplace allegations came to light. When DeGeneres took the stage during the opening night of her "Ellen's Last Stand... Up Tour" in 2024, she wasted no time poking fun at the public jabs at her image. "I got kicked out of show business. There's no mean people in show business," the comedian jested. "The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind. I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. [...] Had I ended my show by saying, 'Go f*** yourself,' people would've been pleasantly surprised," (via Rolling Stone). 

All jokes aside, DeGeneres acknowledged that she never quite learned how to be a proper leader and ended up being more of a playful boss. The disgraced former talk show host also confessed that she felt strange watching her name being plastered all over her workplace because she never felt like she could man the ship. DeGeneres' self-esteem also took a major hit when people stopped supporting her after the allegations surfaced. Furthermore, she could suddenly, and vividly, see the two polarizing ends of public opinion: Complete love and idolization or loud, outright hatred. And, to top it all off, "The Ellen Show" had undoubtedly become a large part of her self-identity in its nearly 20-year run, so DeGeneres had to rebuild from the ground up. 

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, Ellen DeGeneres shared the real reason why she chose to end her show after 19 seasons. "When you're a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore," the comedian reasoned. DeGeneres also claimed that she knew the 19th season would be the final one since she signed a 3-season renewal contract after the 16th season. The controversy came as a big shock because the former talk show host was under the impression that everyone was happy to be in her orbit. According to DeGeneres, none of her employees approached her to discuss their workplace grievances, so she only learned of them with the rest of the world. 

Divulging that the criticism from the allegations was incredibly hard-hitting, she clarified that it wasn't the reason for the show's end. In fact, DeGeneres returned to our screens soon afterward. However, her journey back to the spotlight following the culmination of "The Ellen Show" wasn't easy. During the opening night of "Ellen's Last Stand... Up" tour, the multiple Emmy winner even admitted that she'd checked into a mental health facility after the show's end to cope with the trauma from the backlash (via Entertainment Tonight). Ultimately, though, DeGeneres bounced back and has accomplished quite a bit since her talk show ended. Likewise, she even found a new mission to work towards.