Ellen DeGeneres has spoken about her talk show coming to an end in 2022 over allegations of workplace toxicity.
Last week, DeGeneres – who apart from being a talkshow host for nearly 20 years, is an actress and comedian – held the first of numerous dates on her Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour. During the show, she spoke about how The Ellen DeGeneres show ended in 2022 and how the ordeal affected her.
In 2022, the comedian was forced to end the Ellen DeGeneres Show after a Buzzfeed News investigation accused it of being a toxic work environment, with alleged sexual misconduct, racism and workplace bullying taking place behind the scenes.
Now, per a Rolling Stone report, the comedian has finally opened up about the ordeal.
DeGeneres told the Los Angeles crowd she had been doing a lot of gardening since the show ended. “What else can I tell you?,” she added. “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There’s no mean people in show business.”
“This is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business,” she said. “Eventually they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old and gay. It’s been such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem. There’s such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolise you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.”
Later after the stand-up routine, Ellen answered questions from the audience and elaborated on the process of the show’s end: “This was a whole different thing. This was like, ‘What is going on?’ It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal,” she continued.
“I just thought, ‘Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’ I just hated the way the show ended,” she shared. “I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way.”
DeGeneres went on to explain: “I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
During her 19-year stint hosting The Ellen DeGeneres show, she became known for her cheery demeanour, often dancing with the audience in attendance. When asked by a fan if she was still dancing, Ellen replied, suggesting that she has come to terms with the way things played out: “It’s hard to dance when you’re crying. But I am dancing now.”
Elsewhere during the stand-up routine, DeGeneres spoke about how the scandal had impacted her marriage. DeGeneres, who maintained that she was unaware of the show’s toxic work environment, issued an apology shortly after the accusations became public. “Things happened here that should never have happened,” she told her audience at the time.
A year after her show came to an end, the comedian claimed that the press coverage surrounding the story was “misogynistic”.
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