Ellen Degeneres has come back to the public eye in a new comedy special.
The former talk show host's comedy special, For Your Approval, premiered on Tuesday, September 24 on Netflix. Her last special was six year ago for the streaming service called Relatable. This special, which Ellen claims is supposed to be her last, was seemingly a personal look into her life post getting "kicked out of show business." Ellen was "kicked out of show business" after explosive allegations of a toxic workplace under her talkshow The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Two years after the allegations, her talk show ended in May 2022 after 19 seasons. Although, the 66-year-old comedian claimed that the allegations had nothing to do with her ending her self-titled show, according to The Hollywood Reporter .
Addressing the allegations in the special, she says: "I got kicked out of show business because I'm mean. Yeah, you can't be mean and be in show business." Ellen joked and said this was the second time this has happened, making a reference to the retaliation she faced after coming out as gay in the 90s. She went on to say, the third time she'll be kicked out is because she's old: "Mean, old and gay. The triple crown." She also said she attended therapy to "deal with all the hatred" in the aftermath of the scandal.
Another mention of the scandal is when she explained that the "problem" was that she as a comedian ended her show on a positive note with "Be kind to one another" but if she had concluded "by saying 'go f--- yourselves,' people would've been pleasantly surprised to find out I'm kind."
Since the special has released, it has been slammed with negative reviews. Some of the comments also criticized the way in which she acknowledged the scandal along with the special as a whole. It's been called "bizarre, unfunny and self-pitying” and another review said she was unrepentant and "not particularly funny." As Ellen says her goodbyes to comedy and the industry, we take a look into the scandal that started it all and other previous ones.
Toxic Workplace
For as long as Ellen has been on TV especially with her talk show, she has had a feel good brand and a kindness motto but that soon change in a report by BuzzFeed News in July 2020 when current and former employee of The Ellen DeGeneres Show shared they experienced "racism, fear, and intimidation."
Within the article, the outlet talked to one current and 10 former employees about their time on the daytime talk show. Some talked about being fired for taking medical leave or bereavement days. A Black employee talked about deal with racist microaggressions that led her to walk of the job. Others mentioned how their direct managers told them to not speak to the talk show host even if she was around the office. The majority of the former employee placed the blame on executive producers and other senior managers for the toxicity but one employee said that Ellen "needs to take more responsibility" and be "more involved" since her name is on the show.
Ellen had sent an apology letter to her staff after the BuzzFeed article and promised that "things will now change" and announced there would be an investigation. She also put some of the blame on her staff.
"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," Ellen wrote. "Clearly some didn't. That will now change and I'm committed to ensuring this does not happen again.
Then two weeks after BuzzFeed initial report and hours after Ellen's apology letter, another explosive report came out that were 36 former Ellen employees accused executive producers of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. They named writer and executive producer Kevin Leman, executive producer Ed Glavin, co-executive producer Jonathan Norman as the perpetrators. Kevin and Jonathan at the time had denied the allegations while Glavin did not publicly address them.
Ellen apologized a second time her staff in a Zoom Meeting on August 17, 2020 where it was announced the three top producers named in the sexual misconduct and harassment allegations were leaving the show. She also on the Season 18 premiere of her show on September 2020, she spoke about the allegations in an opening monologue. The Finding Nemo star apologized to those affected and said she takes responsibility "for what happens at my show" with the "position of privilege and power."
Falsely denying going to Dakota Johnson's birthday party
Before the scandal took place, there had been rumors of Ellen not being very nice. Comedian Kevin T. Porter on March 2020 took to Twitter (now X) and asked people to share their "most insane" real stories about Ellen being mean. The post went viral and many people responded to the thread.
During the scandal, many people started to post resurfaced clips of Ellen being rude or not as genuine as they thought. A memorable notable appearance by Dakota Johnson in 2019 which went viral with the actress called out Ellen for lying about not being invited to her 30th birthday party. In the beginning of the interview, Ellen wished the actress a Happy Birthday and then asked her why she wasn't invited to her birthday party.
Dakota immediately dispelled Ellen's claim stating, " That's not the truth." Then Dakota added: " Last time I was on the show last year, you gave me a bunch of s--t about not inviting you, but I didn't even know you wanted to be invited. I didn't even know you liked me."
Ellen replied not, expecting that response, that she does like Dakota and she has been on the show many times. Dakota doubled down on the fact she did invite Ellen with, " Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen. Ask everybody. Ask Jonathan, your producer.” One of the producers did confirm that the host had been invited but didn't attend.
Trying to get Mariah Cary to admit pregnancy
Another moment, that had people up in arms is when music icon Maria Carey came to the show in 2008 and Ellen kept trying to get her to announce her pregnancy. Mariah had declined to discuss the topic on air that she was expecting her first baby with her ex-husband Nick Cannon.
Ellen decided to hand her a glass of champagne so they can toast to you not being pregnant then and Mariah told her, "I can't believe you did this to me, Ellen...this is peer pressure." As Mariah faked taking a sip of the alcoholic drink, Ellen exclaimed, "You're pregnant!"
During an interview with Vulture in August 2020, Mariah expressed how "extremely uncomfortable" she was in that moment with Ellen.
"I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath," The singer said. "I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage.”
Problematic comments about Covid pandemic and BLM
Ellen has also received backlash for things she has said in the past. In the height of the coronavirus pandemic, where productions were shutdown or suspended, Ellen went on YouTube to do a “at-home edition” of her award-winning show.
“One thing that I’ve learned from being in quarantine is that people — this is like being in jail, is what it is,” Ellen said in the video. "It’s mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay. The jokes that I have. I feel bad for the kids at home, all the college students, all the parents. I feel bad for a lot of people. But I think that a lot of people out there need words of encouragement, and that’s what I want to do."
Her comparing being in quarantine to jail had people remarking that she was insensitive and oblivious especially with her level of wealth. Also the fact that her and wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have multiple million dollar homes. They also made note of the fact that many people who were in jail were dying of Covid. New York City jail Rikers Island was said to be a "public health disaster unfolding before our eyes" at the time. She ended up removing the video after the backlash.
Then in May 2020, in the aftermath of George Floyd's death which caused a nationwide and global outcry about police brutality as well as racism. In since-deleted tweet, Ellen wrote: "Like so many of you, I am angry and I am sad. People of color in this country have faced injustice for far too long. For things to change, things must change. We must commit ourselves to this change with conviction and with love."
People criticized her tweet for being hollow and vague in it's lack of specificity in referring to Black people who are disproportionately affected by police violence and bringing up the systematic issues. Following the criticism, she tweeted she supported the "protestors who are exercising their rights and standing up against the horrible injustices that Black people in America face everyday." She added she would donate to the George Floyd Memorial Fund, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, Black Lives Matter, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Then she invited the late DJ and co-executive producer tWitch to talk about the issue at hand. The dancer urged people to speak out against injustice and not to be silent even if you're afraid to make a mistake. He added that people can learn and that allies for BLM "don't need you to be perfect" as the movement needed allies "at this point."
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