No one is perfect. We all have bad days. We all should be allowed to change, learn from our mistakes, and have different opinions without fear of being shouted down or cancelled.
I’m so glad The Ellen Show is back and hope this chapter is one of the best!
On Tuesday, Aug. 8, the host said via a press release, “I can’t wait to get back to work and back to our studio. And, yes, we’re gonna talk about it.”
Production on season 18 will resume on the Warner Bros. set on Monday, Sept. 21. Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic there will be no live audience.
Chrissy Teigen, Alec Baldwin and Kerry Washington are expected to make appearances throughout premiere week. In addition, there will be interviews with Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Adam Sandler and Orlando Bloom.
I’ve been watching The Ellen Show for the last 11 years, - watching this whole situation unfold has been shocking and so upsetting. I have read multiple articles from multiple sources, so that I can have the most non-bias and balanced opinion of this situation. I’m also taking everything with a pinch of salt because we all know what humans can be like.
From what I’ve read there have been numerous complaints about some of the senior staff at The Ellen Show and some complaints about Ellen DeGeneres herself. Three Executive Producers have been fired due to Warner Bros. external investigation, the Executive Producers have yet to release statements, Twitch has been promoted to Co-Executive Producer, he said that there has been nothing but “love” behind the scenes and Ellen has apologised for her behaviour and has said that season 18 will come back “stronger”. It also seems that the Producers kept Ellen in a bubble, they didn’t let staff talk to her, they didn’t let them interact with her, they made Ellen believe that everything was fine behind the scenes and when there were complaints they kept it to themselves; which is why Ellen has no idea any of this was going on.
It also seems as though Ellen didn’t have a lot of input in how the show was run behind the scenes, she trusted her Producers to the point that she became complacent and believed everything was fine. I also believe that Ellen is not a self-aware person, she genuinely didn’t know that she coming off cold or stand-offish to some people and there was no one to check Ellen when this happened. The complaints of racism (that have been reported) hold no weight in the situation, saying that its hard to tell two black people apart from each other because they look alike is not racist. it’s an observation. Also producers asking people for their “sources” isn’t a bad thing when you work on a team, you’re supposed to work together.
This is not a clean-cut / black-and-white situation - there are many factors that go into this; one of the most important being that The Ellen Show is based in California which is one of (if not the) most liberal states in the US, which means there are going to be a lot of social justice warriors and “woke” people that work for Ellen and The Ellen Show; which is why I’m taking all of this with a pinch of salt. A person can tell a joke or scare someone, different people will take it a different ways, some of them will laugh, some of the them will get offended and others will brush it off (which is what seems to have happened with Kevin Leaman). There will also be people who for whatever reason will not like working with particular people and will do whatever they have to do to get them fired or “cancelled”. Some people are also saying that Twitch was promoted because he is black, which is completely false - Twitch has been working on The Ellen Show for years, he started of a guest with SYTYCD, then turned DJ / dancer and he’s now basically co-hosting The Ellen Show and Ellen’s Game of Games. Also, of course if you fired three Producers, you need someone to replace them and Twitch is by far the best choice.
This may be very controversial but I’m going to say it anyway… the people going to the press, telling them about the situation at The Ellen Show are no better than the people they are accusing. Why? Because they knew all of this was going on for YEARS, they said NOTHING and allowed new employees to walk into a toxic work environment, which allowed the situation to get worse. If you know something is wrong and people are being treated badly, you should say something, you tell your boss and you don’t stop until you find someone who will listen to to you or you take it upon yourself to improve the situation. You don’t just walk away from the job and then run to the press.
I really do hope the accused were interviewed, I hope they had an opportunity to defend themselves and apologise for how they have treated people. I don’t believe in the Media being the Judge and the Jury. I don’t agree with cancel culture, noting good ever comes of it, we need to accept that people have done wrong, learn from it and move on. Not silence them and take away their ability to get a job or provide for themselves and their families.”, I don’t want people to loose their jobs because they offended someone with a joke. I also believe in second chances and I believe people can change if they are willing to do so. I do hope The Ellen Show comes back stronger in September, I hope things get better for the staff and I hope Ellen has a bigger responsibility / more input on what goes on behind the scenes of her show (or hires someone specifically to do that for her) and I hope this never happens again.
Edit:Everytime I don’t know what to say or explain myself, Kevin Hart sums it up perfectly “We’re letting people control and dictate the start and finish of people’s lives, and if we are in a time of finding any type of solution to the fight of equality and change, which seems to be a global fight now — a global fight of people being treated fairly, change, understanding and accepting the past, but preparing for a better future - if people [have done something] wrong, the idea of canceling those people, and ending whatever career or thing they have…If it’s just over, then what’s the teachable moment for them? What, it’s over, and then you can’t do nothing else for the rest of your life, because you made a mistake?”
Kevin Hart explains why he supports Ellen and Nick Cannon amid scandal
“Kerry Washington plays a 1990s mom in “Little Fires Everywhere,” and described to Ellen how once she realized she’s basically playing her own mom in the Hulu miniseries, it became more meaningful to try to walk in her mother’s shoes with the performance.”
I wish we had Hulu in the UK, Little Fires Everywhere looks great!
I can’t wait to watch American Son on Netflix and I agree with Kerry Washington and Ellen said, we need to be able to have conversations where we aren’t comfortale and we’re not jus talking to people with the same opinions about everything - we need to be able to have our own opinions while respecting other people’s and not taking feelings as fact.
