American comedian and TV show host Ellen DeGeneres may be ready to say goodbye to her talk show as an investigation into toxic workplace claims is underway.
According to Fox News, as per a new report, the 62-year-old talk-show host has been in talks with top executives from Warner Bros. and Telepictures, the company that produces the show, to let them know she is considering pulling the plug entirely.
An insider at Telepictures revealed to Daily Mail, "She feels she can`t go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show."
On Thursday, DeGeneres broke her silence to address the recent bashing of the behind-the-scenes culture at The Ellen DeGeneres Show in a memo to staff.
She began, "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."
The Finding Dory artist insisted that the culture as it has been reported "will now change", vowing that she's "committed to ensuring this does not happen again."
While the host hinted at not having full knowledge of the alleged bullying off-camera, the Telepictures source claimed she "knew what was going on".
The insider continued, "It's her show. The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame."
In April, the allegations first came to the surface, as unnamed members of the production team claimed they were left uninformed as to the status of their pay or employment amid the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, accounts of "cold" behaviour from the Mr. Wrong star DeGeneres herself, including from her former bodyguard, began to pile up.
This week, the show took another hit when Buzzfeed published a report based on interviews with 36 members of staff. Several voiced allegations of sexual misconduct from top producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman.
