Ellen DeGeneres is back in the public eye two years after her eponymous talk show was canceled amid toxic workplace allegations.
The former titan of daytime television fell from grace following a Buzzfeed News investigation from 2020reporting on accusations made by 10 former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show who said they faced racism, bullying and sexual misconduct at the hands of the show’s top producers. Three producers were fired following the report, but The Ellen DeGeneres Show It never recovered and ended after 19 seasons.
DeGeneres has made rare public appearances since then, but her current “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour” is her first foray back into the spotlight.
During a Wednesday concert at the Largo in Los Angeles, DeGeneres addressed her unceremonious exit, saying she “was kicked out of show business,” according to People and Rolling Stonewhich first reported on the comedy set.
“There are no bad people in show business,” he joked.
The email you need to receive the top news stories from Canada Day and around the world.
“The ‘be nice’ girl wasn’t nice. That was the headline,” DeGeneres continued, referencing how she used to end all of her is shown with the phrase “Be kind to one another.”
The former talk show host lamented how her television legacy was diminished after the scandal: “I became a one-dimensional character who gave things away and took steps. Do you know how difficult it is to climb steps? Would a bad person dance up stairs? “If I had ended my show by saying, ‘Fuck you,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised.”
DeGeneres apologized on air after allegations against her show surfaced, but maintained she was unaware of the toxic work environment. However, he said that he was “taking responsibility for what happened at my show.”
During Wednesday night’s performance, DeGeneres talked about how immature she was as a manager and how she “didn’t know how to be a boss.”
“I didn’t go to business school. I went to Charlie’s Chuckle Hutt,” DeGeneres joked, according to Rolling Stone. “The show was called Elena and everyone was wearing t-shirts that said ‘Ellen’ and there were buildings on the Warner Brothers lot that said ‘Ellen,’ but I (didn’t) know that meant I should be in charge.”
He also noted that the backlash he faced from 2020 was actually his second fall from grace, referring to his comedy. Elena, which was canceled in 1998 after DeGeneres came out as gay.
“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business… Eventually I’ll be kicked out for the third time because I’m bad, old, and gay.”
After the routine ended, DeGeneres returned to the stage for an audience Q&A and opened up about how she “hated the way the show ended” because she “loved that show so much.”
“I’m making jokes about what happened to me, but it was devastating,” he said. “It took me a long time to want to do something again.”
The “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour” is touring the western United States and will culminate with a special recorded for Netflix.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
