Ellen DeGeneres is causing controversy once again now that she is back on set for the 18th season of her show, and as expected there were a lot of mixed reactions after being accused of creating a toxic environment for the staff during the filming of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The 62-year-old TV personality was trending immediately after her return episode, kicking off the new season with an apology, addressing the complaints made during the summer with a touch of comedy, and making some of the viewers and former staff uncomfortable.
Before the filming of the 18th season an investigation was conducted, with Ellen reportedly firing three producers and urging for an improvement of work conditions, however she wanted to address the controversy directly, with an attempt to salvage her reputation and regain the love and engagement of the viewers.
However the reactions of past employees surfaced right away and they were not happy with Ellen’s apology, claiming the comedian had turned “our traumas, into a joke,” and pointed out that she had “somehow managed to make this about her.”
The apology, shared on Twitter and Instagram multiple times, was quickly criticized for the amount of joking involved, with a virtual audience that most of the social media users categorized as “fake,” and with another opinion from a former staffer saying “When you’re talking about people who have accused her leadership of the seriousness of sexual misconduct, I don’t think it’s appropriate to have jokes in the monologue.”
Previous to the season premiere, numerous clips of past episodes surfaced online involving Sofia Vergara, Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey and even Celine Dion, with fans of the artists and celebrities pointing out Ellen’s jokes and criticizing her behavior.