Ellen DeGeneres has said being hailed the ‘most hated person in America’ when her show ended turned her to not leaving her own home.
The star has kicked off her comeback comedy tour this week, with her stand-up routine in West Hollywood. She has remained out of the public eye for two years, when the Ellen DeGeneres Show went off air in 2022. It had run for 19 seasons on NBC and became a staple in TV. However, when allegations of a toxic workplace came out, it tarnished her reputation, and she says she was kicked out of showbiz.
Ellen DeGeneres admits she never saw herself as a ‘boss’ when her show came out
In 2020, two years before The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired it’s final episode, the 66-year-old was accused by former employees of fostering a toxic work environment.
The celebrity told staff she was unaware of any toxicity behind-the-scenes of the beloved television show. But the claims led to WarnerMedia launching an investigation.
Ellen later said it was a ‘coordinated misogynistic’ attack on her. The star shunned the spotlight when her show ended in May, 2022 – until now.
Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour is her first comedy gig since 2018. She received applause at the debut show on Wednesday, where she said she was ‘kicked out of show business for being ‘mean”.
The star, who is half of the celebrity couple with Portia de Rossi, said she didn’t “know how to be a boss” despite The Ellen DeGeneres Show being named after her, the host.
“The show was called Ellen,” DeGeneres said. “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”.
‘Kicked out of Hollywood – twice’
The icon said she had been “kicked out of show business” twice in her long-standing career.
First, in 1998, when her sitcom Ellen was canceled by ABC after she bravely came out as gay.
In her gig, she jokes: “For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business.
“Eventually, they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay”.
She added: “There’s such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolize you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder”.
Ellen DeGeneres said she felt ‘hurt’ when her show legacy ended, when fans asked questions at the end of her set.
She admitted: “It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective, I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal.
“I just thought, ‘Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.'”
The 66-year-old added: “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.”
Her comedy tour, which will be taped for Netflix in the fall, was first announced on Instagram earlier this month.
Ellen’s memo to her team
When the news came out of The Ellen DeGeneres Show allegations, 11 people stood up to tell their experiences.
Three executive producers were accused of bullying, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner – and Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman were later fired.
At the time, Ellen apologized to her staff in a memo.
She wrote: “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.”
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