While her decision to end her popular noontime talk show had been made well in advance, Ellen DeGeneres said she was affected by allegations of a “toxic workplace” leveled against her.
After 19 seasons, Ellen DeGeneres’ high-profile noontime talk show will sign off in 2022, with the host wanting to sit back and assess which ventures to pursue next as the show has lost its challenge for her.
The announcement comes as DeGeneres comes under fire for an allegedly “toxic” work environment.
She is expected to make a public announcement on Thursday’s show with guest and daytime TV predecessor Oprah Winfrey.
DeGeneres said the plan all along has been to end the show when her contract is up next year.
"I knew [the 19th Season] would be my last," she said of the 2019 deal. "That’s been the plan all along. And everybody kept saying, even when I signed, 'You know, that’s going to be 19, don’t you want to just go to 20? It’s a good number.' So is 19," she laughed.
DeGeneres said in 2018 that wife Portia de Rossi wanted her to call it quits, but her brother, Vance DeGeneres, changed her mind.
"Look, it’s going to be really hard on the last day, but I also know it’s time," she admitted.
The show debuted in 2003, a few years after she —and her Ellen TV character — came out. That had been a rough period for her personally and professionally, including seeing a subsequent comedy, The Ellen Show, canceled after just 13 episodes.
DeGeneres really took to her new role as talk show host — dancing and singing with the audience at the start of each show — and endeared herself to viewers.
She also gained a reputation as a “star creator,” with some of her guests – including Filipino singer Charice Pempengco, now known as Jake Zyrus – achieving international stardom.
Those good vibes led to a steady stream of A-list guests and, as a star herself, she was known for being celebrity-friendly.
However, DeGeneres’ reputation was rocked last year after current and former employees made claims of a “toxic” workplace.
It led to three senior staff members being axed — and DeGeneres publicly apologizing, saying, "My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that."
"It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season. So, it’s not why I’m stopping but it was hard because I was sitting at home, it was summer, and I see a story that people have to chew gum before they talk to me and I’m like, 'OK, this is hilarious.' Then I see another story of some other ridiculous thing and then it just didn’t stop. And I wasn’t working, so I had no platform, and I didn’t want to address it on [Twitter] and I thought if I just don’t address it, it’s going to go away because it was all so stupid,” DeGeneres told the Hollywood Reporter.
As for what's next, she's open to all the possibilities — movies, shows, comedy, hosting, narrating — but she's going to take a breath to figure it out.
"I have some ideas but my agent is just like, 'Why don’t you just sit still for a minute. You probably don’t even know how exhausted you are and what it’s going to be like to sit still," she said, but added, "I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do that because I’m like a Ferrari in neutral. I’m constantly needing to go."
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