After almost two decades of her talk show, Ellen Degeneres has decided that it’s time to move on. The Ellen Degeneres Show will be ending after the next season. The show has been beloved for 19 years now, but Ellen said this week that it will be ending. She explained that she’s ‘a creative person’, and that she needs to be challenged.
Why now?
Ellen’s decision to end the show comes after reports of The Ellen Degeneres Show allegedly being a very toxic work environment. In the last year or so, many employees of Ellen’s have spoken out about her behaviour on set and the environment it created. YouTube beauty star Nikkie de Jager revealed that ‘there’s a big difference between [Dutch talkshow De Wereld Draait Door] and Ellen Degeneres, and I’m saying that in favour of this show’. She went on to say that Ellen didn’t speak to her before the show, and was instead greeted by an angry intern.
Podcast host Kevin T. Porter added to this story, saying that Ellen is ‘notoriously one of the meanest people alive’, and then proceeded to start a Twitter thread of all the mean things that Ellen has done.
My friend wrote for the Ellen Show for two years and told me Ellen didn’t greet her once. In fact, upon employment, staff were told they weren’t allowed to talk to her.
— Cathy Messier (@cathytown) March 20, 2020
Following these, Ellen staff spoke up about not being given any written communication about their hours, pay or health during the hiatus the show took when the host tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2020.
Later on, Buzzfeed News published an article that reported on an interview with 10 former employees of the show, who alleged that they were fired for taking medical leave or bereavement days. In fact, one employee revealed that they went on medical leave for a month following an attempt on their life, and they lost their job. One employee said that she was ‘fed up with comments about her race’ and left. Employees reported being told to not speak to Ellen if they ever saw her around the office.
Then, of course, there is the infamous video of Dakota Johnson and Ellen, wherein Johnson catches Ellen out in a lie. The video went viral instantly, with people beginning to question whether Ellen is as kind hearted as she seems.
dakota johnson calling out ellen for lying about not getting a birthday invite pic.twitter.com/hM77EM5owP
— ♡ DJohn💙DJ 🕸👑♡ (@AllMyloveQueenD) March 21, 2020
According to Ellen, she wanted to end the show after season 16, 3 years ago. But instead, she signed on for another 3 seasons.
What’s next for Ellen?
Well she has yet to announce what her plans are after The Ellen Degeneres show, but if she’s looking for something to challenge her then we can presume it will be something exciting.
Should we expect some more voice acting from the talk show host?
