‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’ ousts 3 producers over sexual harassment, toxicity claims

After landing in hot water over the past couple of months, Ellen DeGeneres has finally addressed the debacle which led to her fall from grace.

In a virtual staff meeting, the talk show laid off three executive producers who were accused of sexual harassment and creating a toxic workplace—Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman.

Apart from ousting the three EPS from the Warner Bros.-distributed syndicated strip, other changes were also made to the show as the comedian issued an apology to her staff, the second one in recent weeks, according to Hollywood Reporter.

DeGeneres also informed her employees that Stephan Laurel Boss, the DJ on her show known popularly as tWitch would be getting promoted to executive producer.

This came in light of recent investigations of the show’s working environment after former staff members opened up to BuzzFeed last month, about the show’s ‘toxic culture’ and how they experience “racism, fear and intimidation.”

The ex-employees had named Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner as the key instigators of fear and toxicity. Another investigative piece by BuzzFeed cited other workers accusing Kevin Leman of sexual misconduct—which he has denied.

The talk show host has been under fire since earlier this year when her past employees as well as guests started speaking out about their firsthand experiences of her abusive and hostile behavior.

Tom Majercak, her former bodyguard for the 86th Academy Awards in 2014, had also shared his unpleasant experience of working with her.

Shedding light on his experience working with DeGeneres, Majercak, who has high-profile companies like Apple, Twitter and Google on his resume, said the Oscars night was a bit demeaning for him.

"I'm holding their hands and walking them through individuals and large groups of people. Ellen is the one person that I've been assigned to — and I've been assigned to quite a few celebrities — that has never taken the time to say hi to me,” he told Fox News.

"Ellen pretty much just gave me a side glance out of her eye and didn't even say 'hello,' or 'thank you for protecting my mother, my wife, and me.’ It was very cold and it was very sly and it was actually kind of demeaning in the way that she treats people other than those who are in her circle,” he added.

He went on to add that at the high-profile Oscars after-party, the Governors Ball, she had only permitted celebrities pre-approved by her, to come and talk to her at her table.

Prior to that, YouTube sensation NikkieTutorials aka Nikkie de Jager had also narrated her unpleasant experience of the time she made her appearance on The Ellen Show.

Back in April, a Twitter trend against DeGeneres had also come afloat where her past employees and those who had met her, recounted their unpleasant experiences with her, dubbing her as ‘one of the meanest people alive.’

Meanwhile, her crew members from The Ellen Show also recently came out, complaining that they hadn’t received communication from DeGeneres or the executives regarding their pay or working hours during the coronavirus pandemic.