It’s a new chapter for The Ellen DeGeneres Show has Ellen and her crew kicked off season 18 of the mega-popular daytime television show. The start of the newest season comes fresh off the heels of abuse and harassment allegations that reportedly took place behind the scenes of the show.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, many of the allegations, which were first reported by BuzzFeed, were made against producers who worked on the show. Criticism against Ellen alleged that her personality was sometimes different than it appeared on the show. The host addressed all of it during the opening monologue of her show on September 21.
Ellen DeGeneres Addresses Show Allegations During Premiere
After welcoming her viewers into the show, Ellen began by saying, “If you’re watching because you love me, thank you. If you’re watching because you don’t love me, welcome.”
She then asked how everybody’s summer was, before joking that hers was “great” and “super terrific.” Ellen then went into directly addressing the allegations, something she says she has been looking forward to doing.
“As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation. I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I am in a position of privilege and power and I realize that with that comes responsibility. And I take responsibility for what happens at my show. This is The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I am Ellen DeGeneres. My name is there. My name is there. My name is on underwear.”
Following the investigation, Ellen said she and her team have sat down to have conversations about the show, the workplace, and what they hope the future will look like. “We have made the necessary changes. And today, we are starting a new chapter.”
Those changes included firing executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman, all of whom were accused of harassing and abusing some of their colleagues. Ellen then went on to address some of the criticisms that Ellen’s personality outside of the show is not the same as it appears on the show.
“Here’s how that happened,” DeGeneres explained. “I started saying ‘be kind to one another’ after a young man named Tyler Clementi took his own life after being bullied for being gay. I thought the world needed more kindness and it was a reminder that we all needed that. And I think we need it more than ever right now.”
However, being the “be kind lady” can be a difficult road to navigate. Because while she is as kind as she can be, DeGeneres is also a human being with other emotions and feels and she has good days and bad.
“The truth is I am that person that you see on TV. I am also a lot of other things. Sometimes I get sad; I get mad; I get anxious; I get frustrated; I get impatient and I am working on all of that. I am a work in progress, and I am especially working on the impatience thing. And it’s not going well because it’s not going fast enough, I’ll tell you that.”
Ellen continued saying, “This is me, and my intention is to always be the best person I can be. And if I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I am so sorry for that. If that’s ever the case, I’ve let myself down and I’ve hurt myself, as well. Because I always try to grow as a person. I look at everything that comes into my life as an opportunity to learn.”
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In the end, Ellen DeGeneres said that all she wants for the 270 people who work for her is for “them to be happy and to be proud to work here.” And she hopes that her show can still be “the one-hour a day that people can go to escape and laugh.”
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