Ellen DeGeneres tells staff that 3 top producers are out
To millions of viewers, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has long been a TV oasis, a place for entertaining celebrity interviews, light jokes and plenty of dancing led by its cheerful host.
In recent weeks, the facade has cracked.
On Monday, Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind the syndicated daytime talk show, confirmed that it had parted ways with three of the show's producers: Ed Glavin, an executive producer; Jonathan Norman, a co-executive producer; and Kevin Leman, the head writer.
The moves came during an investigation of the show's workplace, which is still being conducted. The review was prompted by an investigative article published last month by BuzzFeed News describing a “toxic work culture” in which former staff members said they had experienced “racism, fear and intimidation.”
The former employees on the show who shared their accounts laid most of the blame for their bad experiences on Glavin and two other top producers, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner. Warner Bros. said Monday that Connelly and Lassner would remain in their roles.
In a second BuzzFeed News investigation, former staff members accused Leman of sexually harassing a number of employees. Leman has denied “any kind of sexual impropriety.”
DeGeneres, a comedian and host who has been a staple of daytime TV since “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” made its debut in 2003, has come under fire recently for claiming ignorance of how her show was run.
On Monday, she informed her staff of the changes via videoconference. She also said that Stephen Laurel Boss, the D J known as tWitch who plays music during the show and serves as her sidekick, would join the program's executive producer ranks.
DeGeneres also apologized to her staff during the videoconference, her second apology in recent weeks. In July, she sent the program's employees a statement that read, in part, “On Day 1 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. Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry.”
Variety first reported the changes in leadership at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
At 62, DeGeneres is one of the richest performers in television, as well as a onewoman powerhouse for Warner
Bros. Television. In addition to working under the studio to make her talk show, she is also a top producer and star of another Warner Bros. production, the NBC prime-time hit “Ellen's Game of Games.”
Glavin and Leman both worked on that show; on Monday, Warner Bros. said they would no longer be a part of “Ellen's Game of Games.” The third season of that show is scheduled to start Aug. 26.
Last year, DeGeneres renewed her contract to continue hosting her talk show through 2022. She also signed a deal to create three shows for HBO Max, the WarnerMedia streaming platform.