Ellen DeGeneres Films Final Talk Show Episode: ‘The Greatest Privilege of My Life’

“The Ellen Show” has officially wrapped its final episode.

Ellen DeGeneres announced on a Twitter thread last night that the highly popular daytime talk show concluded filming its final episode. The host also offered up some personal reflections about the show and how it has evolved since its beginning.

More from Variety

• NBC Cancels 'Ellen's Game of Games' After Four Seasons

• HBO Max and Cartoon Network Expand Preschool Content Under Cartoonito Banner

• Kelly Clarkson Talk Show to Move Into Ellen DeGeneres' Time Slots on NBC Stations

“Today we taped the final episode of ‘The Ellen Show’ which airs on May 26th,” Degeneres wrote on Twitter. “When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. Gay marriage wasn’t legal. We watched the world change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.”

The talk show, now on Season 19, first aired at NBC Studios on Sept. 8, 2003, before it moved to the Warner Bros. Studios lot in 2008. Over the course of the show’s run, it has won 12 Daytime Emmys for best talk show, more than any other talk show in history. In May 2021, DeGeneres announced the show would wrap the next year after more than 3,000 episodes following toxic workplace allegations.

“But whatever was happening, my goal was always for the show to be a place where we could all come together and laugh for an hour,” Degeneres wrote. “Being invited into your lives has been the greatest privilege of my life and has brought me incredible joy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

The show has been facing ratings declines in recent years, and the host has also taken hits to her reputation after allegations surfaced about inappropriate behavior and bullying on set. In July of 2020, a BuzzFeed News investigation surfaced allegations of racist behavior and intimidation on the show. WarnerMedia then conducted an internal investigation, resulting in the removal of three senior producers due to allegations of racial insensitivity, sexual misconduct and other problems in the work environment.

In April of the same year, Variety reported on the frustration among the show’s crew members over pay reduction, a lack of communication and poor treatment by producers during the pandemic. According to two anonymous sources, the core stage crew received no written communication about the status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health for over a month. The crew was further outraged by the show’s hiring of an outside, non-union tech company to help DeGeneres tape remotely from her home in California.

DeGeneres addressed the damning reports in her opening monologue for season 18, promising significant changes while claiming the show had started a “new chapter.”

Best of Variety

• Molly Shannon's Memoir 'Hello Molly' Is Already an Instant Bestseller on Amazon

• 2022 Primetime Emmys Awards Season Calendar: The Governors Balls are Back After Two Years

• What's Coming to Disney Plus in April 2022

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.