Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about the end of her longtime daytime talk show. The once-beloved series was canceled in 2022 amid a series of allegations against the comedian, claiming she offered a toxic work environment. For the first time, the Emmy winner is speaking about it in her Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour. “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business,” DeGeneres told the crowd at the Largo at the Coronet Theater in West Hollywood, as reported by TV Insider. “There’s no mean people in show business.”
She added: “I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f*** yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
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Former employees of DeGeneres accused her of horrible behavior behind the scenes, including racism, sexual misconduct, unfair pay, and intimidation. Variety also reported frustrations from crew members regarding production pay at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeGeneres apologized on-air. WarnerMedia, the parent company of the show, conducted an internal investigation, which resulted in three producers being fired. “For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business. …Eventually they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old and gay,” she said, referring to the cancelation of her 90s sitcom amid her coming out as gay.
“It’s been such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem,” she continued. “There’s such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolize you, or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.”
She later held a Q&A with fans after the comedy show where she expanded further on the toll her talk show’s cancellation took on her. “It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal,” she explained. “I just thought, ‘Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’ I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way.”
