Ellen Degeneres

[scarlet]

Mar 13, 2005 12:45:42 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Ellen then called and insisted that s/he drive back to the house and check that all of the vehicles had at least three quarters of a tank of gas so that guests arriving the next day would be able to drive them. The employee wanted to do it on Saturday morning instead (their day off) and Ellen insisted it be immediately.

And made the assistant texted her pics of the gas gauge and the receipt.

[askye]

'I don't know how I could have known when there are 255 employees here, and a lot of different buildings.

The funny thing is that I actually do believe her when she said she didn't know how bad the workplace environment was. As the most recent Buzzfeed article noted:

Former employees of The Ellen Show previously told BuzzFeed News that it's likely DeGeneres herself was not aware of what goes on behind the scenes as she does not spend enough time interacting with employees, and her top producers 'insulate' her from details."

It doesn't absolve her of responsibility - her name is on the show, and she should obviously know what's going on - but I fully believe that she was somewhat removed from the day-to-day running of the show. If you've tuned in over the past five years, she's clearly been checked out for a long time.

I can't find the link, but I keep thinking back to that Whoopi Goldberg quote from a few years ago, when she was asked about backstage drama at The View. Whoopi essentially said: "I don't care what happens behind the scenes at The View. My job is to show up at 9:00 AM, look cute, read what's on the cue cards, and go home. Everyone else can do what they want. Just make sure my paycheck doesn't bounce."

In my mind, this was probably Ellen's attitude towards her show as well.

[canuckcutie]

Stephen Fishbach is a former Survivor contestant who hosts a podcast now. He tweeted today that he previously worked at MTV and was used to working with over the top celebrities and their demands. He said there was one person in that environment who stood out as toxic & cruel and that it was common knowledge she would make unreasonable demands and belittle those around her. As you might have guessed the celeb he was talking about was Ellen.

[Ginger]

May 10, 2020 1:31:01 GMT -4 askye said:

Former employees of The Ellen Show previously told BuzzFeed News that it's likely DeGeneres herself was not aware of what goes on behind the scenes as she does not spend enough time interacting with employees, and her top producers 'insulate' her from details."

There were certain specific workplace complaints at the show that were perpetrated by producers that didn't have to do with Ellen herself. One complaint was from a woman who was on the receiving end of repeated racial remarks from her supervisor. Ellen jumped all over those incidents and made the whole thing out to be a producer problem that she just didn't know about.

That was a straw man, because the prevailing issue has always been Ellen's own behavior - and very much not limited to the show. But in terms of the awful workplace culture at the show, that is a fish that is rotting from the head.

[gremlin45]

May 13, 2021 16:35:29 GMT -4 Ginger said:

There were some more Ellen stories on Deux Moi the other day. A former member of Ellen's household staff said Ellen would plant things like nuts and olives under the drapes and in between the couch cushions, and then would flip out and scream if the items were still there after the house was cleaned.

Someone I know swears a walnut in the corner of every room keeps spiders out of her house. If your employer's going to lose her mind if you screw up and you knew she'd put x item there herself, you might figure she actually wants x item there (for some bizarre reason) and put it back after cleaning.