Ellen DeGeneres pens open letter to staff
Ellen DeGeneres has penned a letter to the staff of her talk show in the wake of allegations of a toxic workplace culture.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the note to crew is part of an effort to change the culture behind the scenes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which will reportedly also see one of the show’s producers ousted.
In her apology note published by THR, DeGeneres insisted 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. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again,” she writes.
DeGeneres opens the letter with an apology, saying that what has happened was “the opposite” of what she intended for the show.
“Hey everybody – it’s Ellen. 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. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show,” she writes.
Elsewhere in the letter, DeGeneres says she’s “learning that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop”.
The talk show host said if it wasn’t for the pandemic, she would have “done this in person”, and said she was “so sorry” to those who did not have a good experience working on the show.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show is reportedly under investigation after numerous accusations by former staffers that it is a “toxic” work environment.