Former ‘Ellen Show’ employees call out toxic culture

Ten former employees and one current staff member have called out The Ellen DeGeneres Show for  having a toxic work culture, revealing in anonymous interviews that they faced racism, fear and intimidation while at work. Not only that, but they claim the show’s mantra, “Be kind,” is entirely for show.Speaking with BuzzFeed News, the employees—who wanted to remain nameless for fear of retaliation—highlighted several instances where they alleged they were either let go for taking medical leave or bereavement days, speaking out against the long work hours, or in the case of one Black woman who spoke out, faced racism and microaggressions over the year and a half that she worked there.The latter woman revealed that when she was hired, a senior-level producer told her and another Black employee, “Oh wow, you both have box braids; I hope we don’t get you confused.” She also revealed that at a work function one of the writers flat out told her they only “know the names of the white people who work here,” and that no one came to her defence. Later, when she questioned the term “spirit animal” for use in segments she was called “the PC police.” She also claimed that colleagues began distancing themselves from her when she spoke out against the discrimination.“Whenever I brought up an issue to my white male boss, he would bring up some random story about some random Black friend that he had and how they managed to get over stuff,” she told the publication. “He would use his Black friend as some way to say, ‘I understand your struggle.’ But it was all performative bulls***.”After a year of working there, the woman learned that a new hire was making twice her salary, despite her experience in the industry. When she asked for a raise she was told they would look into it. Months went by without a word, and then she claims executive producer Ed Glavin called her into his office to reprimand her for objecting to the term “spirit animal,” asking for a raise, and suggesting employees receive diversity and inclusion training. “He said that I was walking around looking resentful and angry,” she recounted, adding that she walked out that day and didn’t come back.Her story isn’t the only one the publication shared. Another employee revealed that when they launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for medical bills not covered under the show’s medical plan, they were asked to take it down because of  how it reflected on the show. The story was corroborated by four other employees, according to the publication. About a month later, the employee was let go for posting a selfie laughing with coworkers on a personal Instagram story, which was a violation of their contract. The employee claims it’s something other employees have also done in the past without getting axed. “Be kind to the world,” the person said, “not your employees.”Another employee, who at the time had been with the show for a year, opened up about taking a month medical leave to check into a mental health facility after a suicide attempt. The week they returned to work they were told their position had been eliminated. Meanwhile another person spoke about the time they faced a tough personal year involving a car accident and two family deaths. When the person asked for time off, it was a battle with supervisors and HR. “That’s the definition of a toxic work environment, where they make you feel like you’re going insane and then you’re like, no, everything I was feeling was right. It was all leading up to this,” the former staffer said.In the article, those who spoke out also revealed that some staff would “drink the Kool-Aid” and believed that they were just lucky to work for the series. Those employees, according to them, were treated better and received kickbacks like iPhones and gift cards. Meanwhile they also alleged that upper management told staff not to talk to Ellen DeGeneres herself at work.All of that aside, BuzzFeed wrote that many of the former employees that spoke out made it clear that it wasn’t DeGeneres who was necessarily setting up the bad behaviour; they blamed executive producers and senior staff. However as one person pointed out, as the person who heads up the show and has her name all over it, DeGeneres should be more responsible. “If she wants to have her own show and have her name on the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what's going on,” the person said. “I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, ‘Things are going great, everybody's happy,’ and she just believes that, but it's her responsibility to go beyond that.”The story comes on the heels of reports that DeGeneres is difficult to work with and is not as “nice” in person as her image would have fans believe. Meanwhile last April the show itself faced criticism in the wake of the current coronavirus pandemic, as employees reported feeling distressed over their bosses not communicating what was going on with their jobs and pay when stay-at-home orders hit and in-studio productions shut down.In a joint statement to BuzzFeed News, Glavin and fellow executive producers Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner said that they take these stories very seriously. "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. It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us.”They continued, "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."[video_embed id='1996035']BEFORE YOU GO: Check out these side-by-side photographs of historical figures and their descendants[/video_embed]