The Ellen DeGeneres Files: Two Decades of Controversy Behind the “Be Kind” Brand
For nearly 20 years, Ellen DeGeneres sold America one idea: kindness. Her talk show ended every episode with the words “be kind to one another,” and her brand was built on giveaways, dancing and feel-good surprises. But a growing pile of accounts from former staff, guests and business partners paints a very different picture of what went on behind the scenes, and of how a reputation built over two decades came apart in a matter of months.
“Every Production Needs Their Dog”
When The Ellen DeGeneres Show launched in 2003, the early staff were promised a positive, drama-free workplace. Hedda Muskat, a producer hired during the show’s setup, has said that promise did not last.
According to Muskat, the atmosphere changed after Ed Glavin was brought on as an executive producer. She recalled a staff meeting in late 2003, held to introduce Glavin and fellow executive producer Mary Connelly, where Glavin lost his temper and screamed at a crew member in front of everyone. The room froze, she said, and waited for DeGeneres to step in. Instead, Muskat said, DeGeneres laughed and remarked that every production needs its “dog.”
Anyone can lose their temper once. What former staff described, however, was a pattern, and they said it came from the top.
The BuzzFeed Investigations
The scandal broke into the open in July 2020. On July 16, BuzzFeed News published a report based on interviews with one current and ten former employees. They described a culture of fear, racism and intimidation, and an HR system that punished people for personal emergencies while senior producers faced no consequences.
One former employee said they took a month of medical leave after a suicide attempt and were told their position had been eliminated on the day they returned. Another said she lost her job after taking time off for a car accident and family funerals. When she started a GoFundMe to cover medical bills her insurance would not pay, she said producers made her take it down because it looked bad for the show.
A former Black staffer described uncomfortable comments from higher-ups, including remarks about her braids. She said that after she asked for diversity training and a raise, Glavin accused her of seeming resentful, and she was later escorted off the lot.
On July 30, 2020, DeGeneres sent her staff a written apology. Hours later, BuzzFeed published a second report, this time based on 36 former employees. They alleged sexual misconduct and harassment by three of the show’s top producers: executive producer Ed Glavin, head writer and executive producer Kevin Leman, and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman.
Employees accused Leman of propositioning a male staffer in a bathroom at a 2013 work party and making explicit comments in the office and writers’ room. A former employee said Norman spent months befriending him with concerts and dinners before making an advance while he was drunk. Several women said Glavin touched their backs and waists in the control room, and many staffers described a workplace run through yelling and intimidation. Former employees said entry-level assistants were too afraid of ending their careers to report anything, and that HR offered little protection when the people accused were the bosses.
As for whether DeGeneres knew, opinions among former staff were split. Some believed managers kept complaints away from her to protect the show. Others were blunter: one former employee told BuzzFeed that she knew what went on but didn’t want to hear about it.
WarnerMedia opened an internal investigation in late July. In August 2020, Glavin, Leman and Norman were all out, and the company promised staff more paid time off and better medical leave.
Uncomfortable Moments on Air
Long before 2020, some of DeGeneres’s on-air moments had drawn criticism.
In November 2008, Mariah Carey appeared on the show amid rumors that she was pregnant. When Carey declined to answer, DeGeneres brought out champagne and pressed her to drink it on camera to prove she wasn’t. Carey later said she had been extremely uncomfortable with the moment. She revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage and was not ready to tell anyone. DeGeneres never publicly apologized.
In November 2019, actress Dakota Johnson challenged DeGeneres on air after DeGeneres complained about not being invited to Johnson’s birthday party. Johnson calmly replied that she had invited her. The clip drew millions of views and is often cited as the moment the public’s view of DeGeneres began to shift.
How Guests and Staff Described Her
In January 2020, Dutch beauty YouTuber Nikkie de Jager appeared on the show after publicly coming out as a trans woman. Back home in the Netherlands, she said DeGeneres had been cold and distant and didn’t greet her before taping. In a later interview, she described the backstage experience as unwelcoming and said she was not allowed to use the nearest restroom because it was reserved for the Jonas Brothers. Her takeaway, she said, was “don’t meet your idols.”
Tom Majercak, who worked security for DeGeneres, her mother and Portia de Rossi at the 2014 Oscars, told Fox News in May 2020 that DeGeneres barely acknowledged him all night. He described her as cold and condescending, and said that in a decade of protecting stars he had never seen a celebrity so dismissive of security staff.
Singer Greyson Chance became famous in 2010, at age 12, after his YouTube cover of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” went viral. DeGeneres booked him on her show, gave him $10,000 and a piano, and launched her own label, eleveneleven, to sign him. In a Rolling Stone interview, Chance said she made big promises to his family about protecting him. Behind the scenes, he said, she could be controlling and manipulative. He recalled her yelling at a stylist over his clothes, and calling his mother angrily when, exhausted from touring, he had not watched a documentary preview she had sent. After his 2012 album sold poorly, he said, her team stopped returning his calls. When he came back on the show years later, she greeted him warmly on camera.
The Thread That Opened the Floodgates
In March 2020, comedian Kevin T. Porter tweeted that DeGeneres was notoriously one of the meanest people alive. He offered to donate $2 to the Los Angeles Food Bank for every real story people shared about her being mean.
The replies poured in from former assistants, restaurant workers and interns. Many alleged that staff were told not to make eye contact with DeGeneres or speak to her unless spoken to. One server claimed DeGeneres tried to get her fired over chipped nail polish. Porter said he couldn’t verify which stories were true, so he rounded up to 300 and donated $600.
Muskat later backed up the eye-contact claim on television. In her 2024 Netflix special, DeGeneres denied ever banning eye contact and turned the rumor into a joke.
Labor Disputes and Lawsuits
The trouble went beyond personality. During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, DeGeneres suspended taping for one day in solidarity, then returned to work while hosts such as Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno stayed dark. Her team said a contract with a different union required her to keep working to protect non-writing jobs, but the WGA publicly criticized her.
In September 2009, Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI sued the show’s production companies in federal court, claiming it had used more than 1,000 songs in its daily dance segments without paying for licenses. The case was settled privately.
In February 2016, a “funny signs” segment showed a realtor’s sign. The show blurred her office number but not her personal cell phone number, and she was flooded with calls and messages, reportedly while attending a funeral.
When COVID-19 shut down production in March 2020, more than 30 stage crew members reportedly went over a month without word about their pay or jobs. When producers did reach out, crew members said they were told their pay would be cut by 60%, while the show kept airing and hired an outside non-union company to film at DeGeneres’s home. Her joke in an early home episode that quarantine felt like being in jail did not help.
In 2021, a background dancer sued the production company over unpaid wages, overtime and missed breaks. The case dragged on until a settlement was finalized in 2024.
The Business Behind the Brand
The show’s famous “12 Days of Giveaways” came with fine print: because the prizes counted as taxable winnings, audience members reportedly faced tax bills on gifts they did not choose.
DeGeneres also built a business empire around her name. Her “Be Kind by Ellen” subscription box, launched in 2018, drew complaints about automatic renewals, difficult cancellations and late shipments, and was quietly shut down after the show ended. Kind Science, a skin care line launched in 2021 with marketing company Guthy-Renker, drew consumer complaints about trial offers that turned into recurring charges. Ellen-themed slot machines reached casinos in 2015, and her mobile games added subscriptions and ads.
In April 2021, she promoted an NFT sale of a quick cat doodle, saying proceeds would go to World Central Kitchen. Critics noted that only net proceeds would go to charity. The sale reportedly brought in around $30,000.
DeGeneres and de Rossi have also profited heavily from real estate. They reportedly bought a Montecito home for $27 million in 2019 and sold it for $33 million a year later. After moving to a farmhouse in England’s Cotswolds in late 2024, they reportedly faced questions from local officials over planning permissions.
The “Iggygate” Episode
In 2007, DeGeneres and de Rossi adopted a dog named Iggy from a small rescue group, Mutts and Moms. Their contract required the dog to be returned to the rescue if the adoption didn’t work out. Instead, DeGeneres gave Iggy to her hairstylist’s family, and the rescue took the dog back. DeGeneres then cried on air while pleading for the dog to be returned. Her fans flooded the small nonprofit with angry calls and threats, but it held its ground.
Charity, Sponsors and the Selfie
Many of the show’s emotional moments featured giant checks for struggling teachers and families. Those gifts were often funded by corporate sponsors, and the famous 2014 Oscars selfie was part of a Samsung promotion. Giving through sponsors still helped people. But critics noted the contrast between the praise she received for sponsored generosity on air and the pay cuts her own crew faced behind the scenes.
Damage Control
When the scandal broke, DeGeneres’s July 2020 memo said she had been unaware of the problems and pointed to managers. Celebrity friends including Katy Perry and Kevin Hart defended her, but that backfired as former crew members and actors said her treatment of workers was common knowledge in Hollywood.
She addressed the controversy on air at the start of season 18 in September 2020. The show lost more than a million viewers that season. In May 2021, she announced that the show would end in 2022, saying it was no longer a challenge. In her September 2024 Netflix special, For Your Approval, she joked about being “kicked out of show business” rather than apologizing to former staff.
A Brand Built on Kindness
DeGeneres has never faced criminal charges over any of these claims, and many of the online stories about her remain unverified. But the documented record — the BuzzFeed investigations, the firings, the lawsuits and the accounts of guests who spoke on the record — tells a story her “be kind” slogan never could. It is a reminder of how much easier it is to destroy a reputation than to rebuild one.
