Ellen DeGeneres has talked about the controversial end of her own daytime talk show and her following exit from show business.
In 2020, the 66-year-old TV star caused a stir in the media when it was said that her talk show, which began on September 8, 2003, had a “toxic work environment” behind the scenes.
Variety says that some workers said that executive producers were racist, sexually harassed them, and threatened them.
There were also claims that some workers were afraid to take sick leave for fear of being punished and that they would be punished for making complaints.
In May 2022, Ellen DeGeneres filmed the last show of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Picture credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty
In September 2020, at the start of season 18, DeGeneres talked about the growing number of accusations in public.
During her speech, she told her coworkers she was sorry for things that “never should have happened.” She also said, “I’m privileged and powerful, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”
After the scandal, the show never got better, and in May 2022, it stopped after 19 years.
In the evening of Thursday, April 25, DeGeneres came back into the public eye during the first night of her comedy show, Last Stand… Up Tour, which will be shown on Netflix.
The comic talked about becoming “the most hated person in America” on stage at the Largo. “I got kicked out of show business,” he said. “There aren’t any mean people in show business,” The Guardian said.
It hurt her reputation as a TV star, she said, adding, “The hate went on for a long time, and I would try to avoid looking at the news…the ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind.”
“I turned into a one-dimensional character who gave things away and danced up steps.” “People would have been happy if I had ended my show by telling them to go f**k themselves,” she said.
She then talked about how her comedy from the 1990s was cancelled after she came out as gay, saying that she has now been cancelled twice.
“Just to keep track, this is the second time I’ve been fired from show business… She told him, “They’ll kick me out a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay.”
The host joked about the rough time, but she said she “had a hard time” and “didn’t get out” during the scandal. She also said she became “persona non grata” for the second time in her career, the first time being when she officially came out as gay in 1997.
She said, “I’m making jokes about what happened to me, but it was really terrible.” “I didn’t want to do anything again for a long time.”
The host said she “just hated the way the show ended.” “I love that show so much, and I just hated that that was the last time people would see me,” she added.
In her last note, she told the crowd that she was glad to be back and bring “joy” to “a scary time” to live.
“I believe we need more laughter and less drama,” she said in the end.