Comedian and talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres is once again in the news regarding the ongoing accusations about a toxic work environment from her staff behind the “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Although this time it seems that the host is taking serious action. DeGeneres announced major staff changes on Monday. Part of these changes include the letting go of the show’s senior production team after accusations surfaced about racial insensitivity, sexual misconduct, and other issues that were supposedly going on amongst the staff at the daytime talk show, according to Variety.
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The three people laid off included executive producers, Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman, and co-executive producer, Jonathan Norman. DeGeneres broke the news to her staff on Monday during a staff meeting, which was also the same day that production resumed full-time for the show’s 18th season, according to NBC News. DeGeneres held the meeting via a Zoom call. It was said that DeGeneres was emotional and very apologetic when delivering the news to more than 200 people on her staff.
According to Variety, multiple sources said that DeGeneres told the staff she was “not perfect” and realized many things slipped through the cracks in order to make the show run smoothly and she shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.
The host also acknowledged that the insensitivity from leaders towards other staff members should never have been tolerated. On the call, DeGeneres also supposedly admitted she‘s not perfect. The host explained that she’s a “multi-layered person” who is striving to be ”the best person I can be,” a source told FOX News.
DeGeneres also announced in Monday’s meeting that the resident DJ on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Stephen “tWitch” Boss has been promoted to co-executive producer, according to FOX.
Towards the end of the meeting, it was said that the 62-year-old host thanked the staff for all their hard work and dedication in making the show a success all these years. DeGeneres also said that she cares about each and every staff member, according to FOX.
Reportedly, going forward the staff of the show including DeGeneres will participate in diversity and inclusion workshops. The 18th season was originally set to premiere in early September but it got pushed back a few days to September 14, according to Variety.