Ellen DeGeneres wants to talk to her viewers about what’s been going on behind the scenes at her daytime talk show. The Emmy winner was caught by paparazzi on Saturday as she headed to lunch with a friend in Santa Barbara, California — and she insisted that conversations will be had amid The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s recent producer shakeup.
“I will be talking to my fans,” she said in the video, obtained by Daily Mail.
360aproko has learned that while there are no concrete plans of how DeGeneres will address the recent situation publicly, at this time the thought is that she will address it in some way on the show.
The new season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show is set to premiere on Sept. 14. DeGeneres’ comment comes days after 360aproko learned that her talk show has implemented new perks for staff amid WarnerMedia’s workplace investigation. An insider told 360aproko that the new benefits — which include increased paid time off and a liberal medical leave police — as well as DeGeneres’ address to staffers last week, have been a morale booster.
Last Monday, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. confirmed to 360aproko that executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman have left the show, while the program’s resident DJ, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, has been promoted to co-executive producer after six years on Ellen. The changes were made weeks after disturbing allegations about the show’s workplace environment were made in an article published by Buzzfeed News.
When people returned to work last week, DeGeneres once again apologized and poured her heart out to about 200 of the show’s employees in a video chat, 360aproko learned. Variety’s Matt Donnelly told 360aproko that at one point, the talk show host broke down in tears, taking “a lot more accountability” than she had in the past and noting that she “trusted the wrong people.”
“She seemed quite disturbed by accounts that you can’t look her in the eye, the guests were discouraged from engaging with staff,” Donnelly said of DeGeneres’ meeting with her staff. “All this to say, the end of that section of her speech, she did say, please look at her. Please talk to her and engage.”
