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Rosie O'Donnell reveals she’s boycotted The Ellen Show
Rosie O'Donnell has revealed why she will never appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but it's not for the reason you may suspect.
While Ellen has been plagued with accusations of bullying and claims the work culture on the show is toxic, Rosie said she actually feels sorry for the star.
The actress and comedian appeared on Busy Philipps' podcast Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best and said that she believes Ellen is socially awkward.
"You can’t fake your essence," she said, adding, "That’s why I have compassion for Ellen, right?
"I have compassion, even though, you know, I hear the stories and I understand. I think she has some social awkwardness."
Rosie, who had her own talk show The Rosie O'Donnell Show from 1996 to 2002, then went on to say why she is boycotting the Ellen Show.
"You know how Ellen surprises everyone?" said, "I’ve never done that show because I’m terrified she’s going to scare me and give me a heart attack."
The Ellen Show under investigation
It comes as Warner Media began an internal investigation of The Ellen Show following the many allegations from past and current employees.
Executive producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and co-exective producer Jonathan Norman were fired from the show earlier this month.
According to Page Six, since the investigation kicked off, the show has given staff an additional five days of paid leave for birthdays, medical appointments and family matters.
This comes after claims from current and former employees of people being fired after taking medical leave or bereavement days, facing microaggressions and a culture of bullying and favouritism by executive producers.
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No specific claims were made against Ellen, although some staff claimed they were told not to speak to the TV presenter and comedian if she was in the office and not to make eye contact with her.
According to Page Six, Ellen was shocked to hear of the alleged rule to not look her in the eye, saying to her employees via Zoom: "I don’t know where it started. Please talk to me. Look me in the eye."
At this stage Ellen herself, as well as long-running executive producers Mary Connelly, Andy Lassner and Derek Westervelt, will continue in their positions on the show, with the start date for the 18th season currently set for September 14.
While Ellen returns to set next month, Nine has pulled repeats of the show from the schedule in Australia and have instead replaced it with reruns of Desperate Housewives.
"We are resting Ellen repeats on Nine and have replaced with Desperate Housewives," a Nine spokesperson told Yahoo Lifestyle.
It's unknown yet whether Nine will air the new season.
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