Ellen DeGeneres’s former employees allege workplace environment filled with ‘racism, fear and intimidation’

US talk show host has been at the centre of ‘mean’ allegations since March

Former employees of Ellen DeGeneres’s US talk show have accused its producers of fostering an environment filled with “racism, fear and intimidation”.

Ten individuals who used to work on the daytime series, and one current employee, have anonymously alleged to BuzzFeed News of incidents including being fired for attending two family funerals, and producers joking that two black employees look similar and may cause confusion.

One former employee alleged that she was told by a show writer that they “only know the names of the white people who work here”, while another claimed that they were ordered to take down a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for medical costs not covered by the show’s health insurance. They claimed they were told it reflected poorly on “Ellen’s brand”.

Many of the accusers alleged that the show’s environment is “dominated by fear”, with employees who don’t raise concerns about work hours or microaggressions being rewarded. A source claimed: “They feel that everybody who works at The Ellen Show is lucky to work there — ‘So if you have a problem, you should leave because we’ll hire someone else because everybody wants to work here.’”

While most of the former employees did not blame DeGeneres herself for the workplace environment, one argued that she ought to “take more responsibility” on the show’s set.

“If she wants to have her own show and have her name on the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what’s going on,” the former employee said. “I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, ‘Things are going great, everybody’s happy,’ and she just believes that, but it’s her responsibility to go beyond that.”

In a statement to BuzzFeed, The Ellen Show’s executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner said: “Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and employing over 1000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe, and inclusive work environment. We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience. It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us.”

They continued: “For the record, the day to day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us. We take all of this very seriously and we realise, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better.”

DeGeneres’s show was at the centre of a scandal in March when comedian Kevin T Porter pledged to donate $2 to a Los Angeles food bank for every “insane story” his followers tweeted to him about DeGeneres, whom he branded “notoriously one of the meanest people alive”.

Earlier this month (2 July), the show’s production company denied speculation that it will be cancelled as a result of the “mean” allegations against its host.