The US television pioneer Ellen DeGeneres’s own show has been hit with claims that racial and otherwise abusive conduct is widespread behind the scenes which are currently being investigated by Warner Media and an outside company.
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According to sources, the inquiry was announced to show staffers in a memo by Warner Bros. Television and Telepictures, which is the company that produces the “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”. The company refused to comment.
The precise details being investigated are vague, but the memo follows the reporting in BuzzFeed News where current and former employees of the show claim to have faced racial remarks and other offensive behaviors.
The employee relations division of WarnerMedia and the outside company will work together to investigate the situation surrounding The Ellen DeGeneres Show. They will interview current and former staff members about their on-set experiences in order to understand whether the atmosphere on the talk show set is one where employees can “flourish,” according to a source.
BuzzFeed News released a story earlier this month, in which former employees reported that behind the scenes of the daytime talk show there is a “toxic work environment.” One current and ten former staff talked openly about their on-set encounters, including allegations to be penalized for taking medical leave, cases of racial microaggression and fear of retaliation for raising complaints.
After the BuzzFeed article was featured, executive producers of the series had issued a joint statement promising to improve working conditions.
“We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience. It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us,” they said.
But this is not the first time anyone has spoken out against the show, its staff and its host.
In March, comedian Kevin Porter called DeGeneres “one of the meanest people alive” and launched a viral Twitter thread, calling for everyone who came across DeGeneres to respond with “insane” stories about “Ellen being nasty.” He even received thousands of replies.
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