With the culture at her eponymous talk show under fire, Ellen DeGeneres is speaking out.
In a letter to her crew, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres addresses the alleged workplace misconduct, which was detailed in a Buzzfeed story published earlier this month. The widely-circulated piece includes a host of former employees’ anonymous accusations of racism, intimidation, unjust termination and an overall toxic work culture, perpetuated by the show’s top producers. The report prompted an in-house investigation by Telepictures parent WarnerMedia, which is said to now be largely complete.
In her note, DeGeneres takes responsibility, insofar as the show bears her name, and insists that steps will be taken to “correct the issues” going forward. “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 writes. “That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”
While neither she nor Warner Brothers will comment on the fate of specific employees, two sources tell THR that executive producer Ed Glavin – one of the show’s three EPs, and the one at the center of many of the nastier claims – is among those who will be let go. “Once he’s out, it will be like a new day,” says a source close to the show, one of two who claim DeGeneres was largely kept shielded from Glavin’s day-to-day handling or mishandling of the staff. Others are expected to be out as well.
In a statement to Buzzfeed about its reporting, Glavin, along with EPs Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, had said: “Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and employing over 1000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe, and inclusive work environment. 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.”
At the top of her letter, DeGeneres, who a source says was discouraged from addressing the allegations while the investigation was being conducted, acknowledges the irony of such charges coming at a show she herself had dubbed “a place of happiness.” In light of some of the recent accusations, she also took the opportunity to remind those reading of her own past struggles with feeling othered, having been run out of the industry and the subject of multiple death threats after she came out as gay in the late 1990s. “As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am,” she writes, “I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter