Ellen DeGeneres is accused of screwing over her employees when they need her the most.
Variety broke the news, Ellen’s talk show crew are “furious” over the treatment they received during the health crisis and show shutdown.
The outlet reports Ellen’s employees are “distressed and outraged over their treatment from top producers.” The core stage crew on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is made up of around 30 employees. Variety reports the crew “received no written communication about the status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health from producers for over a month.” They accuses producers of leaving them in the dark about how much they would be paid.
Employees claim the execs would sometimes answer calls but have no information to offer. The crew is upset with Ellen’s decision to hire an outside “non-union tech company” to assist in her taping the show remotely from her home. The crew allegedly had no idea about Ellen’s decision to erect a remote set at her Los Angeles mansion until seeing it on social media.
The crew was finally informed they should be ready for a 60% reduction in pay, even if the show continues to air without interruption. A rep for Warner Bros. Television told Variety, “Our executive producers and Telepictures are committed to taking care of our staff and crew and have made decisions first and foremost with them in mind.”
The report states the stage crew’s frustration includes being separate from Ellen’s senior producers and writers. Many of the stage crew has been with Ellen since the start of her talk show over 17 years ago
Ellen earns more than $50 million per year from her talk show deal. Her reported net worth is $330 million. The talk show host isn’t having the best couple of months. The crew issues come after Ellen was blasted on Twitter last month.
It all started after comedian Kevin T. Porter sent out a tweet asking his followers for the most “insane stories” they’ve heard about Ellen. He labeled Ellen as “notoriously one of the meanest people alive.”
The tweet lead to countless tweets from ex-employees and fans who detailed alleged incidents with the talk show host. Many claimed how she was incredibly nasty to them, wouldn’t let them look in her eyes at work and one said he was fired for refusing to work during a writer’s strike.
Ellen was then ripped for comparing her self-isolation inside her mega-mansion to jail.
