Chat show star, Ellen DeGeneres, announced the end of the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021 following multiple allegations of workplace bullying
Ellen DeGeneres has admitted she misses being on the telly after her own show was brutally axed.
The chat show star, 68, sent shockwaves through the showbiz world when she announced the end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021 following multiple allegations of bullying. The controversy led to internal investigations and a savage plummet in public support, resulting in the Ellen star’s decision to retire from showbusiness completely in 2024.
The former stand-up comedian has kept a low profile since she pulled the plug on her show and moved to London with her wife, Portia De Rossi. However, now Ellen is back on TV – well, sort of – in tonight’s Graham Norton Show.
Speaking to Graham, who is widely considered to be one of the successful chat show hosts in the world, Ellen admitted she wasn’t working.
Opening up about her life away from the spotlight, she said: “I’ve nothing really going on and I really miss being on tv. I miss a lot about it – laughing with the writers and the audience. I think about doing stuff here.”
Joking that it was “easy” to get on TV in the UK, she added: “I think it is pretty easy to get on tv here – you have a pottery show, you have a sewing show, and you even have a show about people watching tv shows!”
Ellen shot to fame in her self-titled comedy show, Ellen, which broke boundaries with the first openly gay lead character on a US TV series.
Reminiscing about the iconic show and the reaction it had on both sides of the Atlantic, she told Graham: “In the US they were not very thrilled about my character or me coming out so for it to be celebrated in London was such an honour. To be treated that way when everyone else was done with me was extraordinary.”
In 2020, 10 former employees of The Ellen Degeneres Show accused the actress of creating a “toxic” on-set atmosphere of “racism, fear, and intimidation”, including failing to address executives sexually harassing female employees.
After Warner Media began an investigation, Ellen apologised to her staff, releasing a statement reading, “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.”
Following the investigation, three executives left and the show vowed to take steps to change the culture. Ellen apologised again during the 18th season’s September 2020 opening before announcing the end of the programme the following year.
* The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 16 October 10.40pm. Also available on BBC iPlayer.
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