Ellen DeGeneres Show: How the host downfall happened as the series finale draws to a close

The Ellen DeGeneres show is coming to an end after the upcoming 19th season following allegations that its host oversaw a toxic work environment.

The final season saw the host lean on her pal Jennifer Aniston to ensure it ends with a bang, with the final show due to air next Thursday.

Prior to the workplace scandal, Ellen, 64, was one of America’s most popular television personalities, known for her bubbly on-screen persona and ‘be nice’ mantra, often partaking in giveaways lavish or acts of charity.

But in 2020, the tide began to turn as claims of a destructive work culture emerged.

Dutch YouTuber Nikkie de Jager was one of the first people to call out DeGeneres calling her “cold and distant.”

In April that year, a Twitter thread asking for stories about Ellen being “one of the baddest people alive” went viral, with sources also saying crew members were unhappy with the cuts. wages and working hours during the pandemic.

Here, we take a look back at how her show’s disappearance unfolded:

NikkiTutorials is one of the first to speak out

YouTuber NikkieTutorials was one of the first to speak out against Ellen DeGeneres.

The makeup guru said her appearance on The Ellen Show reminded her never to meet her idols.

During an interview with the Dutch magazine &VSNikki said, “I may be naive, but I expected them to greet me with confetti: ‘Welcome to the Ellen DeGeneres Show!’

“But instead I was greeted by an angry intern, who was a bit overworked. I was expecting a Disney show, but got a ‘Teletubbies’ after dark.”

Nikki claimed she didn’t receive the VIP perks like some of the other celebrity guests.

“Every Ellen client had a private bathroom, but I didn’t,” she said. “I couldn’t even use the toilet closest to me because it was reserved for the Jonas brothers.”

Tweet asking for stories about DeGeneres being ‘one of the baddest people alive’ goes viral

A comedian named Kevin T. Porter asked for “silly stories about Ellen being mean” in exchange for $2 in donations.

He received thousands of responses, with Porter saying it was hard to “tell which stories are real or not” and so donated $600 for every 300 stories people told.

While the accuracy of the Tweets is impossible to verify, a report by BuzzFeed included current and former employees who complained of alleged backstage bullying, prompting an internal investigation into the show by Warner Bros.

Shortly after the call, a number of TV staff and workers took to the social media site.

Among the responses was a fan who spent hours creating a replica of DeGeneres.

She wrote, alongside the photos, “When I was 15 @TheEllenShow was having a fan contest making a bust of her and sending it to her.

“I worked so hard on it and even wrote her a letter. Weeks later she used it as a prop in a game and gave it to a random person with $500 attached to the bottom. .”

Fellow comedian Chris Farah tweeted a link to her stand-up set and claimed she worked as a waitress, Ellen DeGeneres complained about her chipped nail polish.

“I worked @RealFoodDaily, served it with Porsha at brunch,” Farah wrote. “She wrote a letter to the landlord and complained about my chipped nail polish (not that it was on her plate but just that it was on my hand). I had worked until closing night previous one and it was the next morning, I almost got kicked out.”

Meanwhile, a TV writer claimed Ellen “has a sensitive nose” and made people take gum from a bowl outside her desk before speaking to her.

He also claimed that Ellen was too sensitive to animal jokes, given her vegan diet.

Another added to the thread: “I was on the Letterman special and his jumper had 50 items and one was specific vegan cauliflower puffs which are rarely sold so I had to go in 15 different grocery stores to find it and she didn’t even touch them.”

Australian radio host claims he was told not to watch Ellen

Neil Brien, who worked as an executive producer on the Today show, claimed he was instructed not to watch or talk to Ellen while working with her in 2013.

Recalling it all as “weird”, he alleged that Today’s producers were given a specific set of rules for Ellen’s interview with presenter Richard Wilkins.

He said, “Because it’s ‘The Ellen Show,’ they controlled everything,” “They controlled the interview seats, the lights, how it would work, everything.”

Neil claimed Ellen’s team told him, “Neil, no one can talk to Ellen. You don’t talk to her, you don’t approach her, you don’t look at her. She’ll come in, she’ll sit down downstairs, she’ll talk to Richard, then Ellen will leave.”

TV crew ‘furious at pay cut and poor communication’

In 2020, it was reported that Ellen’s TV crew were furious over reduced pay and poor communication.

Almost all of the crew have been warned of a 60 per cent pay cut as the show continued to air from Ellen’s home during the lockdown, a source has said Variety at the time.

Prior to the coronavirus, the insider said a team of more than 30 people worked on Ellen to keep the show running smoothly.

But they said only four crew members were needed to work on the home version of the show.

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Television – which distributes the show – told the publication: “Our executive producers and Telepictures are committed to caring for our staff and crew and have made decisions with them first and foremost.”

Warner Bros. Television also noted that the team was paid throughout the period, but at reduced hours.

The distributor told Variety that communications could have been better, but blamed the chaos on the outbreak.

Dakota Johnson puts Ellen in her place in awkward interview

Following the announcement that the Ellen show was ending, came several of the squeaky, awkward interviews the American presenter orchestrated to make famous faces squirm when they performed on her show.

One of these topped the trending list when Dakota Johnson firmly put Ellen in her place after the host claimed she wasn’t invited to the 30th birthday party. Fifty Shades of Gray actress.

The footage shows Ellen snidely asking how the party went, before insisting she didn’t get an invite – what Dakota said wasn’t true.

After Ellen insisted she hadn’t been invited to attend, Dakota fired back, “Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen, you were invited.

“The last time I was on the show, last year, you bullshit me about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited.”

Ellen didn’t let go, leading the brunette star to add, “Well, I didn’t even know you loved me.”

“Of course I like you. You knew I liked you,” Ellen said before a very awkward silence.

Ellen then protested that she was never invited to the party, but Dakota told her to ask her producer for the truth.

After learning she was out of town, Ellen suddenly confessed that she “didn’t remember until now” before stepping back and thanking Dakota.

As the video – from 2019 – resurfaced online, fans joked there should be a “Happy National Dakota Johnson Day” after it was shared the Ellen show would definitely end in 2022.

Ellen’s Apology

After an investigation, Warner Bros has made personnel changes following the investigation into allegations of a toxic work environment on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The comedian apologized, “On the first day of our show, I told everyone at our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice and everyone would be treated with respect.

“Obviously something has changed, and I’m disappointed to hear that it hasn’t. And for that, I’m sorry. Anyone who knows me knows that’s the opposite of what I believe and what I was hoping for for our show.”

DeGeneres, who has a string of high profile friends, said that as the show has grown, she’s leaned on others to “do their job because they know I want to.”

“Obviously some didn’t,” she said. “That will now change and I am committed to ensuring that it never happens again.”

Ellen announced in May last year that she was quitting after 19 sets, following allegations of a toxic work environment.

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