What seemed like an impossibility just a short while ago may now become a reality.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show could actually get canceled.
According to Variety, the program has become the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia due to numerous accounts of workplace problems on set and behind the scenes.
Executives from series producer Telepictures and distributor Warner Bros. Television sent a memo to staffers several days ago saying they have engaged WBTV-owner WarnerMedia’s employee relations group and a third party firm.
This firm will interview current and former staffers about their experiences working under DeGeneres.
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News published a report in which previous staff members claims there is a “toxic work environment” behind the scenes of the daytime talk show.
The report anonymously one current and 10 ex-staffers about their experiences on set… including allegations of being penalized for taking medical leave, instances of racial microaggressions and fear of retribution for raising complaints.
For example?
One African-American woman who worked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show said she experienced what she described as “microaggressions” and was “reprimanded” by producer Ed Galvin.
What was her supposed transgression?
Asking for a raise and suggesting staff members undergo diversity and inclusion training, among other claims.
Another former employeed recalled racist remarks by coworkers about her hairstyle, even stating that a senior-level producer told her and a fellow Black employee, “Oh wow, you both have box braids; I hope we don’t get you confused.”
This same person also alleged a writer joked to her, in front of others, that they only remembered the names of white staffers.
After years of being considered one of the kindest people in Hollywood, DeGeneres has come under constant fire of late.
She has been accused of being abusive toward her staff, although many of the people quoted by Buzzfeed didn’t cite DeGeneres as the main culprit of the aforementioned toxic work environment.
“People focus on rumors about how Ellen is mean and everything like that, but that’s not the problem,” one ex-employee told Buzzfeed.
Continued this individual:
“The issue is these three executive producers running the show who are in charge of all these people [and] who make the culture and are putting out this feeling of bullying and being mean.
“They feel that everybody who works at The Ellen Show is lucky to work there:
“‘So if you have a problem, you should leave because we’ll hire someone else because everybody wants to work here.'”
In response to the report, Executive producers Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner said in a statement at the time that they take full responsibility for daily operations on the program.
“Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes and employing over 1000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe and inclusive work environment,” they said.
“We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience.”
They concluded:
“It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us.
“For the record, the day-to-day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us.
“We take all of this very seriously and we realize, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better.”
A Warner Bros. Television spokesperson, meanwhile, declined to comment on the pending internal investigation.
Ellen, for her part, has not said a word in public about all these recent scathing allegations.