An executive producer of The Ellen DeGeneres Show has denied rumours that the long-running show is facing cancellation after employees alleged a toxic work culture.
“Nobody is going off the air,” Andy Lassner, who has co-produced the daytime talk show since 2003, said on Twitter this week after one of his followers suggested that the Ellen show could be axed.
Earlier, Lassner joked in a tweet that he hoped the year would “turn around and start getting better” but that 2020 had other plans — alluding to the scrutiny the show has faced since misconduct allegations surfaced last month.
Several workers told BuzzFeed that they endured racism, fear and intimidation while working on the show.
Following the allegations, Lassner and the programme’s two other executive producers — Ed Glavin and Mary Connelly — said in a statement that they were “heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience.”
Glavin, who was singled out in the employees’ allegations, is reportedly expected to exit the show.
The Hollywood Reporter said this week that DeGeneres addressed the criticism and apologised to her staff in a letter.
“On day one 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,” DeGeneres wrote. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
DeGeneres said that an internal investigation into the allegations had launched and stressed her commitment to “ensuring this does not happen again.”