WarnerMedia is investigating “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” over its workplace culture following multiple complaints about the show’s toxic environment, according to multiple reports.
Executives from Telepictures, which producers the show, and distributor Warner Bros. TV are working with WarnerMedia’s employee relations group and a third party firm to conduct the investigation, according to Variety, which first reported the inquiry. The news comes 10 days after BuzzFeed News published accusations made by former employees of racism and a toxic work environment against the show’s producers.
Representatives from Warner Bros. and DeGeneres declined to comment.
According to BuzzFeed News, 10 former employees and one current “Ellen” staffer — who all asked to remain anonymous — detailed instances of the negative culture at DeGeneres’ hit daytime talk show, including “microaggressions” toward an employee of color and occasions where individuals were fired for taking time off to attend funerals or due to medical problems.
In response to the accusations made by the anonymous individuals cited in the BuzzFeed story, “Ellen” executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner issued this joint statement to BuzzFeed News: “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,” they said. “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. 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 realize, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better.”