The Ellen DeGeneres Show comes to an end today after nineteen years, nineteen seasons and over three thousand episodes.
Over the past two decades, 64-year-old show host Ellen DeGeneres has interviewed the most famous people in the world and amused millions around the globe with her humorous skits – including taking Britney Spears out shopping.
But her house of cards began to spectacularly tumble down back in March 2020 when accusations began to emerge that the care-free exterior of Ellen was a front for a cruel and bitter villain brewing underneath her thin skin.
For years in Hollywood, there had been rumours that Ellen was not the nice person she pretended to be on her sofa – but she managed to get away with her bubbly personality for years until a fellow comedian explosively exposed the truth.
Comedian, writer and podcaster Kevin T. Porter kicked-off the spectacular unravelling when he took to Twitter to raise money for charity.
He tweeted on 20 March 2020: “Right now we all need a little kindness. You know, like Ellen Degeneres always talks about!
“She’s also notoriously one of the meanest people alive. Respond to this with the most insane stories you’ve heard about Ellen being mean & I’ll match every one w/ $2 to @LAFoodBank.”
And with that, the floodgates were opened as literally thousands of responses came pouring in with tales of Ellen being mean to people.
Kevin’s campaign raised $600 (£475) which he donated to a food bank – although the reports, rumours and accusations continued to fly in to his twitter feed.
And then stories beyond Kevin’s campaign began to emerge – with ex employees coming forth with a number of allegations.
One claimed they had been told not to look at Ellen, and another alleged they were fat shamed and bullied by the talk show queen when they were a child.
It wasn’t long before reports emerged that staff working on her show felt they worked in a “toxic” workplace filled with “micro aggressions” and with one employee telling BuzzFeed News: “That ‘be kind’ bullshit only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show.”
The accusations saw the popular talk show lose viewers when it returned to screens as the scandal intensified and Warner Bros Television, and its producer, Telepicture, launched an investigation due to claims the set of the show was “dominated by fear”.
Ultimately, Ellen announced she was throwing in the towel as her star power waned and her charm became muddied – with her show ending after 3,280 episodes.
Ellen declared she was ending her show in May last year – but avoided referencing the scandal as the reason she was quitting, claiming instead: “When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged—and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore.”
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