Ellen DeGeneres apologises to staff over 'workplace misconduct' allegations
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In a statement, Ellen DeGeneres said she would push herself and others to “learn and grow.”
Ellen DeGeneres apologised to the staff of her TV talk show after there was a flurry of negative comments on social media over unfair workplace culture. There is currently an ongoing investigations into the claims.
In her apology, Ellen said, “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect. Something changed and for that, I am sorry.”
“As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again. It’s been way too long, but we’re finally having conversations about fairness and justice,” DeGeneres said, adding that she would push herself and others to “learn and grow.”
She said the COVID-19 pandemic kept her from delivering her comments in person to staffers. She signed the message, “Stay safe and healthy” and “Love, Ellen.”
In a separate statement, the Warner Bros. studio said the investigation’s “primary findings” revealed what it called some flaws in the show’s daily management.
This investigation follows news reports in which former show employees complained about issues including being fired after taking medical or bereavement leave. One worker was said to have said that she left because of comments about her race.
Most complaints were targetted towards senior managers but some also pointed out against Ellen DeGeneres as that former employee said that the TV host needs to take more responsibility for the work environment.
Right after the complaints, Warner Bros., said that they were taking the allegations about the show’s “workplace culture very seriously”. They further said, “As a result, WarnerMedia interviewed dozens of current and former employees about the environment at ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ … . And though not all of the allegations were corroborated, we are disappointed that the primary findings of the investigation indicated some deficiencies related to the show’s day-to-day management.”