Another Ellen DeGeneres Bombshell: Why Gordon Ramsay Was Allegedly Banned From Show

Ellen DeGeneres is once again at the center of bombshell allegations about her behavior behind the scenes of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." The longtime talk show host, who saw her daytime empire collapse in 2022 after reports of bullying and a toxic workplace environment, is being accused of more questionable conduct, including a new claim that involves celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. According to the insider, Ramsay was allegedly banned from the show for nearly eight seasons after making a quip that rubbed Ellen DeGeneres the wrong way.

According to a former staffer who worked on the NBC talk show for over a decade, Ramsay was taking part in a food demo when he bluntly criticized meat presented to him by DeGeneres.

“As soon as he bit in, he was like, ‘This is rubbish. This is disgusting,’” the staffer told the Daily Mail indicating he was not welcome back. “She didn’t like the reaction. It was like eight seasons he didn’t come back for after.”

The insider also claimed that DeGeneres had a particular dislike of male employees, pointing out that she “burned through nine stage managers in one season,” an unusually high turnover compared to other talk shows. “We had a feeling she really didn’t like guys,” the staffer explained.

Other alleged examples of DeGeneres’ temper included firing a warm-up comedian for making a lighthearted joke about her riding a unicycle, and a production assistant who was let go after his golf cart briefly blocked DeGeneres’ car on the Warner Bros. lot.

“She could be dancing and laughing on camera, then during the break she’d be glaring into the crew area like a queen deciding who to execute,” the staffer said.

The latest bombshells build on a long history of troubling accusations that came to a head in 2020, when BuzzFeed News published an exposé featuring one current and 10 former staffers who described "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" as a toxic workplace. All chose to remain anonymous, citing fear of retaliation from Ellen’s powerful team and others in the entertainment industry.

“That ‘be kind’ bullsh-t only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show,” one ex-employee bluntly told the outlet. “I know they give money to people and help them out, but it’s for show.”

Accounts included claims that staffers were fired after taking medical leave or bereavement days to attend family funerals, while others alleged managers instructed them never to speak to DeGeneres if they saw her around the office. One employee said she eventually quit after enduring repeated comments about her race.

As stories of firings, misconduct, and DeGeneres’ alleged meanness spread across social media, the backlash snowballed. By the end of 2020, three executive producers were ousted, and by 2022, NBC officially pulled the plug on the show after nearly two decades on the air.

At the time of the BuzzFeed News exposé, executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly, and Andy Lassner issued a joint statement acknowledging the troubling accounts and taking responsibility for the work environment.

“Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and employing over 1,000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe, and inclusive work environment,” the statement read. “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.”

They added that the day-to-day operations of the show were their responsibility, not DeGeneres’ directly. “For the record, the day-to-day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us," they continued. "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.”

DeGeneres, who once earned $77 million annually from her talk show, insisted she was “shocked” to learn of staff complaints, later telling The Hollywood Reporter that the allegations were “eye-opening.”

“I think that I learned a lot, and there were some things that came up that I was shocked and surprised by. It was eye-opening,” she said at the time. "But I just trust that that had to happen.”

DeGeneres has since moved to England. She has not yet commented on these latest claims.