Ellen DeGeneres Show won’t be cancelled amid ‘mean’ allegations, producers say

Host has been criticised for alleged treatment of staff during lockdown

Ellen DeGeneres’ US chat show is not being cancelled amid accusations that the host exhibits “mean” behaviour on-set.

Reports suggested that The Ellen DeGeneres Show could be taken off the air due to low ratings in recent months.

However, reps for the host’s production company told The New York Post: “Telepictures can confirm it’s untrue.”

DeGeneres, 62, has presented the show since 2003.

As lockdown was announced, she continued to host the show from her home in California.

Soon after, the host faced criticism when it was alleged she had left her staff members in the dark about their pay situation.

While many TV hosts, including Trevor Noah and James Corden, paid their furloughed employees personally, DeGeneres – who donated $1m to coronavirus relief funds alongside her wife Portia de Rossi, 47 – is said to have remained silent on the subject.

DeGeneres is reportedly worth $330m (£264m).

A spokesperson admitted to poor communication with crew members, but attributed the blame to confusion caused by lockdown restrictions.

DeGeneres found herself at the centre of a firestorm in March when people claiming to be her ex-employees began sharing some startling experiences they’re said to have had with the presenter on social media.

The stories began circulating after comedian Kevin T Porter told Twitter he would donate $2 to a food bank in Los Angeles for every “insane story” his followers repeated about DeGeneres, whom he branded “notoriously one of the meanest people alive”.

It wasn’t too long before the alleged stories started flooding in, with apparent former TV workers revealing some eyebrow-raising accusations about their time behind the scenes on the chat show.

Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres at the Golden Globes (Getty Images)

One story claimed that DeGeneres would send her staff home if they had failed to chew gum before speaking to her.

“She has a ‘sensitive nose’ so everyone must chew gum from a bowl outside her office before talking to her and if she thinks you smell that day you have to go home and shower,” one tweeter wrote.

Meanwhile, bodyguard Tom Majercak accused the host of being “kind of demeaning” while he was looking after her and her family when she hosted the Oscars in 2014.

DeGeneres, who married de Rossi in 2008, declined to comment.