Ellen DeGeneres

On October 6, 2019, a photo went viral of DeGeneres attending a Dallas Cowboys’ game, sitting next to former president George W. Bush. 

DeGeneres released a statement two days later confirming, “[Yes,] I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have.” Critics slammed DeGeneres for her public camaraderie with the former president, with some describing him as a “war criminal.”

On October 9, 2019, actor Mark Ruffalo rebuked DeGeneres for befriending the former president: “Sorry, until George W. Bush is brought to justice for the crimes of the Iraq war [...] we can’t even begin to talk about kindness.”

On November 27, 2019, DeGeneres interviewed actor Dakota Johnson on the “Ellen Show.” DeGeneres wished Johnson a happy thirtieth birthday, adding, “How was the party? I wasn’t invited.” Johnson responded, “Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen. You were invited … Last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me a bunch of shit about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited.” Off camera, executive producer Mary Connelly confirmed that DeGeneres had received the invitation to Johnson’s birthday party in October 2019, but had declined because she was out of town. DeGeneres quickly corrected herself: “Oh, now I remember I was invited. Thank you!”

Johnson’s birthday party was held in Malibu, Calif., on October 5, 2019. Although DeGeneres could not confirm where she was on that date, she was photographed on October 6, 2019, attending a Dallas Cowboys game with former president George W. Bush.

The YouTube video of Johnson contradicting DeGeneres went viral with more than 4 million views, causing many of DeGeneres’ critics to speak out in favor of Johnson.

Popular Dutch beauty YouTuber Nikkie de Jager—known as NikkieTutorials—came out as transgender in a video posted on January 13, 2020, stating, “Yes, I am transgender, but at the end of the day, I am me … I am still Nikkie.” Her coming out received almost universal support, and the video has since received more than 37 million views. 

On January 21, 2020, DeGeneres interviewed de Jager about her coming out experience on the “Ellen Show.” The YouTuber tweeted her excitement on the ride to the studio.

Although de Jager seemed enthusiastic to be present, she later revealed that her experience on the “Ellen Show” had not been a positive one. 

On February 11, 2020, while speaking on the Dutch talk show “De Wereld Draait Door” ["The World Keeps Turning”], the interviewer asked de Jager what it was like to meet DeGeneres. 

De Jager chuckled and replied in Dutch, “Well, let's just say there's a huge difference between this show and Ellen DeGeneres and I'm saying that in favor of this show. [laughs again] It’s nice that you say ‘hi’ before the show. She didn’t … It was a huge honor to be on stage with Ellen, but it wasn’t as nice as I thought.” In a later interview with entertainment news site Pop Crave, de Jager also revealed that “every guest at Ellen had a private toilet, but I didn’t. I couldn’t even use the closest toilet to me because it was reserved for the Jonas Brothers.” 

YouTuber Sebastian Williams posted the “De Wereld Draait Door” interview with English subtitles to YouTube on March 29, 2020; the video has since received nearly 3 million views. In the comments of Williams’ video, many critics slammed DeGeneres for the way she treated de Jager.

On March 20, 2020, comedian and podcast producer Kevin T. Porter tweeted that DeGeneres was “notoriously one of the meanest people alive” and asked readers to respond with their “most insane stories you’ve heard about Ellen being mean,” committing to match every true story with a $2 donation to the Los Angeles Food Bank. 

More than 2,600 critics responded to Porter’s March 20, 2020 tweet, with 300+ sharing stories of mistreatment. The thread also received coverage from major news outlets including the New York Times, Daily Mail, Insider, and the New York Post. In many ways, this twitter thread was the beginning of the end for DeGeneres—the first in a string of controversies that would cause her to lose nearly half of her viewers on the “Ellen Show” by March of 2021.

Two days later, on March 22, 2020, Porter contributed $600 to the LA Food Bank in DeGeneres’ name, as promised.

On April 6, 2020, the “Ellen Show” returned to the air for the first time since the U.S.’s COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020. In her opening monologue, DeGeneres joked that quarantine “is like being in jail. Mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay.” Many critics rebuked DeGeneres’ disregard for actual prison inmates who lacked the basic necessities to maintain quarantine in the midst of the pandemic.

In an exposé released by Variety on April 16, 2020, “Ellen Show” crew members alleged that producers left them high and dry during the pandemic, and that they were told nothing "about the status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health from producers for over a month." The article also said crew members were later informed they'd be receiving major pay reductions.

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Television, which distributes the show, told Variety, "Our executive producers and Telepictures are committed to taking care of our staff and crew and have made decisions first and foremost with them in mind."

DeGeneres also caught heat in early April for hiring a non-union camera crew to film episodes of the show in her residence instead of utilizing her existing employees. This was especially jarring since DeGeneres had gushed in the April 7, 2020 episode that she wanted to keep the show going for “my staff and crew. I love them, I miss them, the best thing I can do to support them is to keep the show on the air.”

In an interview with Fox News released May 1, 2020, former bodyguard Tom Majercak, who had protected DeGeneres, her mother, and her spouse Portia De Rossi at the 2014 Oscars, said DeGeneres had been “kind of demeaning in the way that she treats people other than those who are in her circle" at the event. He added that DeGeneres is “the one person that I’ve been assigned to—and I’ve been assigned to quite a few celebrities—that has never taken the time to say hi to me.” 

On May 30, 2020, DeGeneres tweeted her response to the police killing of George Floyd, acknowledging that “people of color in this country have faced injustice for far too long.” The original post has since been deleted.

Critics slammed DeGeneres for refusing to use the term “Black” in her post, arguing that doing so showed lack of solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

After the backlash to her original post, DeGeneres tweeted a video on June 4, 2020, in which she pledged to “learn how to be a better person, how to do better […] I want to help educate my audience. I want to educate myself."

In an exclusive report by Buzzfeed released July 16, 2020, current and former employees at the “Ellen Show” anonymously shared their negative experiences while working on the show. They alleged that the production had been a toxic work environment “dominated by fear.” One former employee revealed, “That ‘be kind’ bullshit only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show. I know they give money to people and help them out, but it’s for show.” 

One former employee, a Black woman, reported that she “experienced racist comments, actions, and ‘microaggressions’ during [her] year and a half as an employee.” Allegedly, when she was hired, a senior-level producer drew the comparison between her and another Black employee, saying, “Oh wow, you both have box braids; I hope we don’t get you confused.”

Another employee reported that after working on the “Ellen Show” for nearly a year, they took medical leave to check into a mental health facility following a suicide attempt. Upon returning to work a month later, they were told their position “was being eliminated.” The employee revealed to BuzzFeed, “You'd think that if someone just tried to kill themselves, you don’t want to add any more stress to their lives … Some of the producers talk openly in public about addiction and mental health awareness, but they’re the reason there’s a stigma. They definitely don’t practice what they preach with the ‘be kind’ mantra."

One former staffer reported that requesting time off to recover in the hospital following a car accident, and later to attend two separate family funerals, was nearly impossible: “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.”

Most of the alleged mistreatment was attributed to upper level management—specifically, executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly, and Andy Lassner—and not to DeGeneres herself, but one employee clarified that “if [DeGeneres] 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.”

In the same article, Glavin, Connelly, and Lassner released a joint statement: “We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience [...] 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."

In the comments, readers criticized DeGeneres for her part in the alleged “toxic workplace.”

Australian radio personality Neil Breen, the host of the 4BC Radio program “Breakfast With Neil Breen,” responded to the allegations that the “Ellen Show” was a toxic workplace in his July 28, 2020 broadcast, citing a strange encounter he’d had with her back in 2013. 

DeGeneres had agreed to an interview with Australian television and radio host Richard Wilkins. Before she arrived, Breen states that the film crew was warned: “OK, this is how it’s going to work here this morning … No one is to talk to Ellen. You don’t talk to her, you don’t approach her, you don’t look at her. She’ll come in, she’ll sit down, she’ll talk to Richard and then Ellen will leave.’” 

The flabbergasted Breen replied, “Are you fair dinkum? I can’t look at her?” He concluded, “I’m not blaming Ellen, because I didn’t get to talk to her because I wasn’t allowed to, so I don’t know if she’s a nice person or not, I wouldn’t have a clue. But I can tell you, the people who worked with her walked on eggshells the whole time and the whole thing was totally bizarre.”

In a follow-up article published to Buzzfeed on July 31, 2020, 36 former “Ellen Show” employees accused executive producers Kevin Leman, Ed Glavin, and Jonathan Norman of sexual harassment, including groping, making sexual advances in the office, and making sexually explicit remarks. 

Leman responded: "I have always aimed to treat everyone on the staff with kindness, inclusivity and respect. In my whole time on the show, to my knowledge, I’ve never had a single HR or inter-personal complaint made about me, and I am devastated beyond belief that this kind of malicious and misleading article could be published."

In a statement released to Buzzfeed after the article’s publication, Norman said he is "100% categorically denying these allegations."

Glavin did not respond to a request for comment.

On August 4, 2020, Tony Okungbowa,also known as DJ Tony, posted on Instagram confirming that he “did experience and feel the toxicity of the environment.” He pledged to “stand with former colleagues in their quest to create a healthier and more inclusive workplace.”

Following two explosive Buzzfeed articles released on July 15 and July 31, 2020, many celebrities took to social media to support the accusations that the “Ellen Show” was a toxic workplace and that DeGeneres herself was insincere in her mission to “be kind.” 

Actor Brad Garrett tweeted that he “[knows] more than one person who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge.” His original post has since been deleted.

When People magazine tweeted Garrett’s quote that “mistreatment by Ellen is ‘common knowledge’”actor Lea Thomspon responded simply: “True story. It is.”

Actor Andy Richter acknowledged the irony that this controversy occurred at a workplace “controlled by a manager [whose] entire brand is being ‘nice.’” His original post has since been deleted.

On August 31, 2020, singer-songwriter Mariah Carey spoke out about her experience being interviewed on the “Ellen Show” on November 26, 2008. At the time, Carey was pregnant but had not publicly announced it. DeGeneres opened the interview saying, “People are saying that you’re pregnant.” Carey quickly interjected, “Don’t discuss that.” DeGeneres replied, “You don’t have to answer me.” At this point DeGeneres produced a bottle of champagne and poured them both glasses, saying, “Let’s just toast with champagne and decide [if you’re pregnant].” 

Although Carey did not outright confirm it in the interview, the fact that she chose not to drink her champagne was taken as proof that she was pregnant. She miscarried shortly afterwards. Describing the interview, Carey later said: “I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage. I don’t want to throw anyone that’s already being thrown under any proverbial bus, but I didn’t enjoy that moment.”

DeGeneres’ critics slammed her on social media for her lack of sensitivity.