Just hours after Ellen DeGeneres responded to allegations involving racism and toxicity at The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the comedian was surrounded by allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Former employees have accused one executive producer of being handsy with women.
Both allegations were originally published by BuzzFeed News spoke to ten former employees and one current employee of the show, with those who were previously associated with the show claiming that they faced intimidation, racism, fear in the workplace. Following the article, DeGeneres faced facing and wrote a letter to her staff, which CBS News obtained earlier this week.
DeGeneres stated that she hoped that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a "place of happiness" where people would be treated with respect, and was understandably disappointed to learn that this hasn't been the case. She confirmed that the show will be leaving no stone unturned in an attempt to correct the issue.
The distributor of the show Warner Bros. is doing its share of fact-finding as well, CBS News' Jamie Yuccas reported. The entertainment company released a statement to CBS News, saying they carried out an internal investigation and found that not all of the allegations were authenticated.
In the statement, Warner Bros. expressed disappointment regarding the deficiencies in the primary findings of the investigation surrounding the show's management. Moreover, the company claims they made multiple changes in the staff, and introduced measures to address the recently surfaced issues, and are even taking the first steps to implement them.
Following DeGeneres' response to first allegations, BuzzFeed News published another article on July 30, saying it spoke to several men and women who work behind the scenes on the show, who claim sexual harassment and misconduct by executive producers goes unchecked in the office.
BuzzFeed News entertainment reporter Krystie Yandoli, who wrote both the articles told CBS that she spoke to about fifty former employees who were associated with The Ellen Show. Yandoli said all of them claim they found their experience behind the scenes to be exactly in contrast to what the show promotes, and what DeGeneres has created an entire brand off, which is the "be kind" message.
Some former employees felt DeGeneres needs to take more responsibility for the work environment. In earlier reports, most former employees accused executive producers and other senior managers of what they described as the constant toxicity.
While one former employee, a Black woman, says she experienced racist comments, actions, and microaggressions, another employee told BuzzFeed News that she was tired of comments about her race so she walked off the job.