Ellen DeGeneres Faces New Setback As She's Hit With A Lawsuit Over A 2023 Car Crash

Ellen DeGeneres' troubles seem to be unending as she has found herself embroiled in a legal issue.

According to a report, the famous comedian and former talk show host has been sued for negligence following a car crash incident.

This lawsuit comes after Ellen DeGeneres came under heavy backlash when she was accused of bullying and fostering a toxic workplace culture on her eponymous talk show.

Ellen DeGeneres has some legal answering to do back in California, several months after she ditched her stay in the Golden State to move to the U.K.

According to TMZ, the comedian has been dragged into a new lawsuit involving an alleged car crash that took place on a busy Santa Barbara road in October 2023.

In the legal document, a driver claims DeGeneres ran a stop sign and hit another female driver who observed traffic rules. The woman is said to have been driving her Tesla in Santa Barbara County when she approached an intersection with traffic signs all over and indeed stopped, even going further to check for incoming traffic.

However, when she was about to proceed further, DeGeneres' car came full-on crashing into hers, and reportedly injured her in the process.

She's suing the former "Ellen DeGeneres Show" host for negligence, alleging that she refused to stop at her own sign.

The news outlet further reports that the woman is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages. DeGeneres is yet to confirm or deny the allegations.

DeGeneres' once flourishing career in Hollywood came to a halt after anonymous staff members of hers accused the comedian of bullying and fostering a toxic workplace culture on her now-cancelled show.

According to Buzzfeed, in the report, they noted that DeGeneres' "be kind" motto was "all for show," alleging that they were often handed penalties for taking medical leave and feared being used as a scapegoat should they dare speak up.

Some also claimed instances of racial microaggression and sexual misconduct were relatively consistent on the show.

At the time, she released a memo essentially telling staff that she is "glad the issues at our show were brought to my attention" and that they are "taking steps ... to correct" them.

However, her show was eventually taken off the air, airing its final episode in May 2022.

Recently, she faced fresh allegations from a former cameraman, who claimed that she sometimes had to give up family commitments to please her, as well as claims that she disliked male employees.

"We went through a lot of male employees," the former staffer said, alleging that DeGeneres once burned through nine stage managers in a single season, per the Daily Mail. "We had a feeling she really didn't like guys."

The source also noted that DeGeneres was inconsiderate about the staff's welfare and made a high-ranking producer reschedule a major operation for their child to better suit hers during the busy Christmas season.

"The kid had a major surgery - like a bone marrow transplant," they said. "It was asked of this particular person if the kid's 'thing' - that's what they referred to it as - was the same week as the Christmas holiday week."

"This was a person pretty high up. This person was asked if they could move the procedure around the Christmas holiday week, for Ellen," the ex-staffer recalled. "They were there on the day of the taping that week - Ellen got exactly what she wanted. It was all loyalty to the show, but no loyalty to staff."

Although she made fun of her ousting from the spotlight, saying she "got kicked out of show business for being mean," reports claim she has been secretly looking to pick up her career from where she left off.

However, the fresh allegations have cast a shadow of doubt over the move, with a source telling the National Enquirer that DeGeneres is "facing the harsh reality" she won't be able to rebuild her career.

"The whole point of Ellen going to the U.K. was to let the dust settle on the bullying scandal. Her goal has always been to make a comeback. She's just been waiting for enough time to pass," the insider said.

They continued, "She's been hitting up her contacts and feeling quietly confident, especially with all the talk about Kelly Clarkson stepping down from her daytime show to focus on her music career."

Weighing in on the negative toll the recently surfaced allegations have raised on a potential comeback, the insider said that it has "hit Ellen like a ton of bricks."

They claimed that the comedian knows "it's a huge turnoff for anyone wanting to hire her."

"Ellen's now facing the harsh reality that she's never going to rebuild her reputation. Someone always seems to come crawling out [of] the woodwork to dredge up the past," they added. "It's put her in a foul mood, and as usual, poor Portia is bearing the brunt of it."