Ellen DeGeneres was once the most celebrated daytime talk show host. She was able to break barriers by being the first gay TV talk show host and for being able to interview the most famous names on the planet, from celebrities, singers to presidents.
However, the year 2020 is not looking good for the talk show host, as everything that has happened behind the scenes of her show is now coming to light, from lawsuits, bullying, racism to unfair treatment. Here are some of the behind-the-scenes stories from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that you probably did not know.
Giving away a fan's hard work
Ellen gets hundreds of gifts from her fans and they are sent to her studio at Warner Bros. Now, most fans do not know what Ellen does to their gifts, but a Twitter user named Danielle Acevedo wrote that when she was 15 years old, the show did a contest of fans making a bust of Ellen and sending it to her.
Acevedo attached a picture of the bust DeGeneres. She said that she worked so hard on the bust and even wrote the talk show host a letter.
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Weeks later, DeGeneres used her bust as a prop in a game and she gave it away to a random person with $500 attached to the bottom. Acevedo attached pictures of the bust being given on the show's set with five $100 bills taped to the bottom.
Sued by multiple record companies
In 2009, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was sued by multiple record labels for using their music without permission. As the public knows, Ellen loves to dance at the beginning of her show, and it turns out it violated copyrights.
"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" used more than 1,000 songs for their segments, yet the producers of the show never bothered to pay for the licenses, as reported by Rolling Stones. The show was able to smooth things over and the lawsuit was dropped.
Victim of Ellen's jokes sued her
Ellen is known to make fun of memes, signs, and viral videos on her show. However, one of the butts of her jokes sued her after the show failed to censor his phone number when the show flashed his board on screen, as reported by The DailyMail.
The realtor, whose name is Titi Pierce, said that not only did DeGeneres mispronounce his name, he also became a victim of harassment as people called him nonstop. Ultimately, the judge threw the case stating that there was nothing wrong with Ellen's joke.
Ellen is said to be mean to her staff
Comedian Kevin T. Porter took his sentiments to Twitter and said that Ellen DeGeneres is "notoriously one of the meanest people alive." This tweet then started a thread of stories from a past audience member of the show, former staff, and fans sharing stories about the real Ellen.
According to Porter, Ellen would choose different staff every day to bully. Former staff Alison Freer said that staff would hide when they eat, hoping they won't get picked on. Ellen also polices everything, from what they wear to what they eat.
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