Ellen DeGeneres Show Exec Producer Shoots Down Cancellation Rumors: 'Nobody Is Going Off the Air'
Amid a ballooning behind-the-scenes controversy involving widespread accusations of a toxic workplace, one of The Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s exec producers is denying rumors that the series is on the verge of cancellation.
“Nobody is going off the air,” EP Andy Lassner insisted on social media Thursday after a fan mentioned the cancellation buzz.
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Nobody is going off the air.
And #GoKingsGo— andy lassner (@andylassner) July 30, 2020
Lassner’s comment surfaced just hours before host Ellen DeGeneres addressed the accusations of bullying and mistreatment on the show’s set in a letter to her crew. In the letter, DeGeneres says she always wanted her show to be “a place of happiness,” and “I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry.” She went on to say that once she learned of the allegations, “we immediately began an internal investigation and we are taking steps, together, to correct the issues.”
Implying that other executives on the show had failed to uphold her standards of conduct, she vows: “That will now change, and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.” (Ellen executive producer Ed Glavin, who is at the center of several of the allegations, will reportedly be let go, according to THR.)
The allegations from current and former Ellen employees, detailed in multiple Buzzfeed reports — including one that dropped late Thursday, after Lassner’s cancellation denial — range from racist comments from senior producers, to staffers being fired for taking time off to attend family funerals, to rampant sexual misconduct and harassment in the workplace. DeGeneres wasn’t directly implicated in the accusations, but as one former employee put it: “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.”
In a statement following their internal investigation, Warner Bros. said, “We have identified several staffing changes, along with appropriate measures to address the issues that have been raised, and are taking the first steps to implement them.”
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