Ellen DeGeneres has officially called it quits on her popular daytime talk show after 19 years on air.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 63-year-old veteran host, who’s been at the receiving end of harsh criticism in recent months over allegations she fostered a toxic workplace, said The Ellen DeGeneres Show will be ending in 2022.
“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” she told the publication.
“Look, it’s going to be really hard on the last day, but I also know it’s time.”
Asked what her next move will be, and whether she’d go back to stand up comedy, DeGeneres said, “Look, I don’t even know the answer. I’ve been trying to think about that. I have some ideas, but my agent is just like, ‘Why don’t you just sit still for a minute. You probably don’t even know how exhausted you are and what it’s going to be like to sit still’.”
According to publication, DeGeneres will sit down with longtime pal Oprah Winfrey on Thursday’s show to discuss the news, which she says has been several years in the making.
The long-running daytime talkshow, which hit 3,000 episodes last week, debuted in 2003. Since then, it’s won more than 60 Emmy awards. However, the last few months haven’t been easy for the show and DeGeneres.
Last year, three of the show’s top producers quit after former staff alleged Ellen and her senior staff created a toxic work environment at the Warner Bros studio where the show is filmed. In a report published by Buzzfeed in July, 2020, anonymous former employees accused the show’s executive producers of harassment and bullying, and criticised DeGeneres for not taking action and turning a blind eye.
“If she wants to have her own show and have her name on the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what’s going on,” one former employee said at the time. “I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, ‘Things are going great, everybody’s happy,’ and she just believes that, but it’s her responsibility to go beyond that.”
It didn’t take long before more former employees came forward with their own allegations. DeGeneres was forced to address the accusations publicly, telling fans of the show that she will do better.
“I learned that things happen here that never should have happened,” the comedian said in the debut episode of the show’s 18th season in September, 2020. “I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected.”
On Thursday, a former producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show slammed the veteran host in an explosive interview with Sunrise hosts Nat Barr and David Koch. Former Ellen producer Hedda Muskat claimed DeGeneres’ decision to pull the show is a result of viewers finally waking up to the comedian’s true nature.
“The viewers have spoken,” she said. “Her ratings have been in the toilet for a long time now. Her show has not been fun, it has not been interesting, and she’s not really ‘stepping down’ – the viewers fired her.”
Muskat, who was one of the show’s first hires back in its 2003 debut season, went on to say that while DeGeneres “loved kissing ass with celebrities”, she “despised” the non-famous guests, who would often go home “feeling like crap”.
“She really was not in a position to interview real people because she really couldn’t carry a conversation with them,” she said.
“This is not ‘bah humbug’ on my end, because I just did my job and went home, but I feel that for the guests it was bad goodwill for them. They just really were not able to connect with her.”