During an exclusive interview with liberal daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, aired on NBC Thursday morning, Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie fretted the comedian was being “cancelled” following accusations of running a toxic workplace. Guthrie mourned DeGeneres announcing that the next season of Ellen would be the last and allowed her to spin conspiracy theories about the allegations being “too orchestrated.”
“But it’s been a difficult season of Ellen’s life,” Guthrie sympathetically declared. The anchor recalled: “Last summer, headlines swirled calling her kind image into question. Former staffers calling the work environment on her show toxic.” Asked if she was ending her show because of those headlines, DeGeneres rejected the premise: “If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year. I really did think about not coming back because it did – you know, I mean, it was devastating.”
Despite having previously admitted the toxic work environment her employees had suffered under, on Thursday, DeGeneres was back to pleading ignorance about the problem: “I read in the press that there’s a toxic work environment, which I mean, I had no idea. Never saw anything that would even point to that.”
Guthrie fretted her fellow media personality was a victim of cancel culture: “Did you feel like you were being cancelled?” DeGeneres imagined people conspiring against her:
I mean, I really didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it. It was too orchestrated. It was too coordinated. And you know, people get picked on, but for four months straight for me? And then, you know, for me to read in the press about a toxic work environment, when all I’ve ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is and how what a happy place it is.
In a follow-up, Guthrie – who sat next to serial sexual harasser Matt Lauer for years – asked: “There are probably people who are thinking, how could you not know? And if you didn’t know, should you have known?” DeGeneres protested: “I don’t know how I could have known when there’s 255 employees here, and there are a lot of different buildings, unless I literally, you know, stayed here, you know, until the last person goes home at night.”
Several former DeGeneres staffers told Fox News on Thursday that they were “not surprised” she was ending the show and argued that “it’s about time.”
Guthrie went so far as to compare the daytime show set to end after 19 seasons on the air to DeGeneres’s sitcom being cancelled in 1997 after she publicly came out as gay: “It’s not the first time Ellen has faced a career crisis. It happened after she came out on her sitcom in 1997....Ads were pulled and her show was eventually cancelled.” She then asked: “Was there a moment during this that you thought, ‘It’s happening again’?”
DeGeneres was eager to play the victim and even suggested sexism was at play: “Yeah, my therapist is like, you know, very few people go through such huge public humiliation twice in a lifetime....I have to say, if nobody else is saying it, it was really interesting because I’m a woman, and it did feel very misogynistic.”
With cancel culture on the rise, the media have only started worrying about the troubling trend when their fellow liberal pals are targets.
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Here is a transcript of the May 13 exchange:
7:41 AM ET
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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: But it’s been a difficult season of Ellen’s life. Last summer, headlines swirled calling her kind image into question. Former staffers calling the work environment on her show toxic.
There will be people who think, “Oh, Ellen’s leaving now because of everything that went on.”
ELLEN DEGENERES: If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year. I really did think about not coming back because it did – you know, I mean, it was devastating. I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy. I just kept saying to Portia, I was like, “If I was a fan of somebody and even if I loved them, I would think there must be some truth to it because it’s not stopping.” And then right on the heels of that, I hear in the – I read in the press that there’s a toxic work environment, which I mean, I had no idea. Never saw anything that would even point to that.
GUTHRIE: Did you feel like you were being cancelled?
DEGENERES: I mean, I really didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it. It was too orchestrated. It was too coordinated. And you know, people get picked on, but for four months straight for me? And then, you know, for me to read in the press about a toxic work environment, when all I’ve ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is and how what a happy place it is.
GUTHRIE: There are probably people who are thinking, how could you not know? And if you didn’t know, should you have known?
DEGENERES: I don’t know how I could have known when there’s 255 employees here, and there are a lot of different buildings, unless I literally, you know, stayed here, you know, until the last person goes home at night. It is my name on the show, so clearly it affects me, and I have to be the one to stand up and say this can’t be tolerated, but I do wish somebody would have come to me and said, “Hey, something’s going on that you should know about.”
GUTHRIE: It’s not the first time Ellen has faced a career crisis. It happened after she came out on her sitcom in 1997.
DEGENERES [THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, 1997]: I’m gay.
GUTHRIE: Ads were pulled and her show was eventually cancelled.
Was there a moment during this that you thought, “It’s happening again”?
DEGENERES: Yeah, my therapist is like, you know, very few people go through such huge public humiliation twice in a lifetime.
GUTHRIE: Isn’t the therapist supposed to help you?
DEGENERES: She was like making me aware that I am, you know, supposed to experience this for a bigger reason. How can I be an example of strength and perseverance and power if I give up and run away and so it really is one of the reasons I came back. I worked really hard on myself. And also, you know, I have to say, if nobody else is saying it, it was really interesting because I’m a woman, and it did feel very misogynistic.
GUTHRIE: Sometimes I think people think that those in the public eye are almost bullet proof.
DEGENERES: No, I’m not bullet proof. And no, I don’t have a thick skin. I mean, I’m extremely sensitive, you know, to the point of it’s, you know, not healthy how sensitive I am. When something is coming back at me that I know is not true, I guess I could take one or two of those shots, but four months in a row took a toll on me.
GUTHRIE: Over the years, Ellen’s show has stood the test of time.
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