Ellen DeGeneres Reportedly Feels ‘Betrayed’ Over Misconduct Accusations, Wants out of Show

Ellen DeGeneres reportedly felt “betrayed” by the former staffers who come forward to accuse The Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s executive producers of creating a toxic workplace environment. A source told Us Weekly she even “wants out of the show,” echoing what another source told The Daily Mail late last week. Ellen producers have been the target of an investigation by WarnerMedia, and DeGeneres vowed to make behind the scenes changes after the allegations surfaced.

“She is pissed that people have come forward to share these negative stories about her and feels betrayed,” a source told Us Weekly, adding that the Emmy-winning host feels like a “target” due to her success. The insider said DeGeneres understands that she can be “tough at times, but believes she works hard and is extremely creative and that it’s a privilege to work for her and be around her.”

On Friday, an insider at Telepictures, the Warner Bros. subsidiary that produces the show, told The Daily Mail DeGeneres was ready to leave her show. “She feels she can’t go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show,” the insider said. “The truth is she knew what was going on, it’s her show. The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun – but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame.”

Meanwhile, The Sun is reporting that comedian James Corden, who hosts CBS’ The Late Late Show, is in contention to replace DeGeneres. An NBC insider said Corden is at the top of the list for NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy, who is a member of the executive team overseeing the investigation into the show. Ellen is produced by Telepictures and distributed by WarnerMedia, but does air on several NBC-owned stations in syndication.

Although there have long been rumors about the workplace at DeGeneres’ show, WarnerMedia did not launch an investigation until after BuzzFeed News published allegations from 10 former staffers on July 16. The staffers said they faced intimidation, and racism from upper management during their time at the show. Other staffers later told BuzzFeed News they faced sexual harassment and misconduct from executive producers as well.

On July 30, DeGeneres apologized to the staff, vowing to “correct the issues” in the future. “As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t,” DeGeneres wrote. “That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”

There has been speculation the show might be canceled due to the controversy. Executive producer Andy Lassner told a fan on Twitter that “nobody is going off the air.” WarnerMedia’s investigation is reportedly almost complete, and executive producer Ed Glavin, who was accused of sexual harassment, is among the employees expected to be fired.