Ellen DeGeneres admitted that being branded the ‘most hated person in America’ was a huge blow to her ego – as she kicked off her comeback stand-up comedy tour in West Hollywood on Wednesday.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show went off the air in 2022 after 19 seasons on NBC following the toxic workplace scandal that tarnished her reputation as TV’s favorite host.
In 2020, DeGeneres, 66, was accused by former Ellen show employees of fostering an environment that tolerated alleged bullying, racism and sexual harassment by execs and one in which she reigned supreme.
This prompted WarnerMedia to launch an investigation and Ellen insisted in a letter to staff that she was unaware of any toxicity behind-the-scenes.
She later branded it a ‘coordinated misogynistic’ attack on her and she has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since the talk show’s finale aired on May 26, 2022.
Performing in front of a sold-out crowd at Club Largo on Wednesday, DeGeneres poked fun at her downfall as she recalled getting ‘kicked out of show business’ for being ‘mean,’ as per Rolling Stone.
‘The ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind,’ she added, a direct nod to her iconic ‘Be kind’ mantra.
Ellen’s Last Stand … Up Tour marks DeGeneres’ first comedy tour since 2018 and she earned a ‘roaring applause’ at Wednesday’s stand-up show.
Ellen DeGeneres admitted that falling out of the public’s favor was a huge blow to her ego – as she kicked off her comeback stand-up comedy tour in West Hollywood on Wednesday; seen in 2022
The comedian continued: ‘There’s no mean people in show business… I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps.
‘Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f**k yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.’
She said that she ‘didn’t know how to be a boss’ despite being the face of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, joking that she ‘went to Charlie’s Chuckle Hutt’ not business school.
‘The show was called Ellen and everybody was wearing T-shirts that said ‘Ellen’ and there were buildings on the Warner Brothers lot that said ‘Ellen,’ but I don’t know that that meant I should be in charge,’ she explained.
DeGeneres also reminded the audience that she’s actually been ‘kicked out of show business’ twice in her decades-long career.
Back in 1998, her popular sitcom Ellen was abruptly canceled by ABC after she publicly came out as gay.
‘For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business,’ she told the crowd, before quipping: ‘Eventually they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay.’
She confessed that her career lows have taken ‘such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem.
‘There’s such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolize you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.’
She elaborated on the ‘hurt’ she felt about how her talk show legacy ended in a Q&A that was held after Wednesday’s set.
‘It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal,’ she explained.
‘I just thought, ‘Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’ … I just hated the way the show ended.
‘I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way.’
DeGeneres announced she would soon be embarking on a standup tour — which she revealed Wednesday will be taped for a Netflix special in the fall — earlier this month on Instagram.
At the time, only four performances in venues in both Oregon and Northern California were scheduled at the time.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show went off the air in 2022 after 19 seasons on CBS following the toxic workplace scandal that tarnished her reputation as TV’s favorite host. In 2020, DeGeneres, 66, was accused by former Ellen show employees of fostering an environment that tolerated bullying, racism and sexual harassment by execs and one in which she reigned supreme
‘What else can I tell you? Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business,’ DeGeneres told the crowd at Club Largo as she poked fun at her downfall throughout the set; seen in 2020
DeGeneres said that she planned to add more shows, writing: ‘More cities and dates will be coming as soon as I find more darts and a bigger map.’
The performer then added several dates, with her first official show to take place on June 19 in San Diego.
She will then stay on the road for several weeks, and her final planned performance is set for July 2 in Santa Rosa, California.
The claims of Ellen’s toxic work environment were revealed in a July 2020 by one current and 10 former employees of the daytime talk show who accused three executive producers, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, of ‘bullying.’
Executive producers Glavin, Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman were all fired from the popular talk show following the accusations leveled against them by current and former staffers.
Ellen came out with an apology after it was announced that her show was subject to a probe by WarnerMedia which looked into ‘staff experiences on set’.
The host sent her staff a memo in which she wrote she was ‘taking steps… to correct’ issues with her employees.
‘On day one of our show, I told everyone in 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 changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry,’ Ellen said in the memo.
‘As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t,’ she added. ‘That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.’
DeGeneres also revealed Wednesday that her standup show will be taped for a Netflix special in the fall
She announced her standup tour earlier this month on Instagram
Among the allegations was one made by a black woman who claimed she suffered a number of ‘microaggressions,’ her request for a raise was ignored and she was accused of ‘walking around looking resentful and angry’ after asking for staff members to undergo diversity and inclusion training.
Another former employee alleged they were fired after taking medical leave for one month following a suicide attempt. A popular claim that circulated is that staff members were instructed not to speak to Ellen.
Some claims included that staff are required to chew gum before speaking to her because of her ‘sensitive nose’, and that she polices staff lunch orders and bans anyone from eating fish or meat.
In addition to these claims, the show was rocked again when three dozen employees of the daytime talk show alleged that senior executives who work behind the scenes groped and kissed staffers, solicited one of them for oral sex, and were ‘handsy with women.’
Jonathan Norman, a co-executive producer, is alleged to have ‘groomed’ a former employee by taking him to concerts and showering him with other gifts and perks before attempting to perform oral sex on him.
Kevin Leman, the show’s head writer and executive producer, is alleged to have solicited oral sex from an employee. Others say they witnessed Leman grope another colleague.
And Ed Glavin, an executive producer, allegedly ‘had a reputation for being handsy with women,’ according to former employees.
The former staffers told BuzzFeed News that they believed the host knew that several of her senior showrunners and producers were alleged to have committed sexual misconduct against junior-level employees.
DeGeneres has insisted that the toxic workplace scandal was not the reason that her show ended and that she always planned to end the series after season 19; seen in 2021
Ahead of the finale, she confessed that she was struggling with ‘anxiety and depression’ and that the aftermath of the scandal was ‘very, very difficult’ time for her; seen with wife Portia de Rossi in June 2023
In 2021, it was revealed that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be ending in its 19th season on CBS.
DeGeneres has insisted that the toxic workplace scandal was not the reason that her show ended and that she always planned to end the series after season 19.
The former standup promised to have a ‘fantastic final season’ with ‘a lot of surprises,’ as well as ‘trips down memory lane’ to pay tribute to her loyal fans.
The show aired its finale episode in May 2022 with Jennifer Aniston as DeGeneres’ final guest.
Ahead of the finale, she confessed that she was struggling with ‘anxiety and depression’ and that the aftermath of the scandal was ‘very, very difficult’ time for her.
