Lea Thompson Agress With Brad Garrett's Claim That Ellen DeGeneres Is 'Rude'
It does not look like things are improving for the beleaguered talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as allegations of bad behavior continue to hound her and her show. Aside from claims that The Ellen DeGeneres Show has a toxic work environment, DeGeneres herself is being branded as someone guilty of mistreatment by fellow celebrities.
Fox News reports that Back to the Future star Lea Thompson has echoed claims by Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett that DeGeneres herself is the source of the mistreatment that her employees have suffered on the show.
Thompson simply said that People’s story on Garrett’s claim that DeGeneres herself is someone who treats people “horribly” is a “true story. The People story notes that Garrett did not provide any details to his claim but that does point out that the actor has been on The Ellen DeGeneres Show six times in the period between 2004 and 2007.
Thompson and Garrett are just the latest celebrities to speak out about DeGeneres’ alleged bad behavior. Nikkie de Jager, a trans beauty blogger from The Netherlands, claimed that preferential treatment was given to A-list stars over herself during her time as a guest on the show.
Australian radio host and former Today Australia executive producer Neil Breen also claimed that DeGeneres had “ridiculous” demands when she was a guest on the Australian show. According to Breen, DeGeneres kept changing the conditions of the interview, first offering to co-host Today before finally settling on a sit-down interview.
Breen goes on to say that he and the team flew to Melbourne at their own expense to interview DeGeneres, and while there they were told not to approach, talk to, or even look at DeGeneres. He also noted that DeGeneres’ staff had to laugh loudly at her jokes during the interview.
All of these allegations came after a Buzzfeed article that alleged that The Ellen DeGeneres Show was a hotbed of racist incidents, unjust terminations, and staff who were prohibited from attending funerals or going on leave for their own mental health.
The report triggered an internal investigation from WarnerMedia, as well as a statement from the show’s three executive producers taking responsibility for the toxic work environment. The producers -- Mary Connelly, Andy Lassner, and Ed Glavin -- made a promise to do better moving forward.
DeGeneres herself put out a letter to her staff that addressed the allegations. Just like her producers, she took responsibility for the toxic incidents and vowed that the show would be a “place of happiness” just as she envisioned it when it first began.