Ellen Staff Being Told: 'Don't Be Afraid'! LOLz, That'll Work...

Ellen DeGeneres and her producers are REALLY scrambling to do damage control!

Ever since the floodgates opened and staff of the long-running talk show began opening up about mistreatment on set, top Ellen brass have been trying to steer the ship back on course and redeem the program’s once-sterling reputation. We imagine it’s a bit difficult when so many of the accused won’t admit they’ve done anything wrong, or that they were even aware of anything wrong happening.

Regardless, they’re giving it the good old college try. In a teleconference meeting on Monday, the Ellen bosses announced three top producers who had been accused of misconduct were fired. Now, Variety has reported that the powers-that-be followed that action up with a reassuring message: “Don’t be afraid!”

…Yeah, no, seriously, that was apparently the literal message from producers Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner. Afraid of what, you may ask? Speaking up about the toxic work environment? Going back to work on a television show during a deadly pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 Americans? Looking Ellen in the eye? Well, all of the above, according to the Variety insider.

Now we can’t not picture a huge blue banner hanging at the office when they return, with a picture of Ellen and the words DON’T BE AFRAID in big white letters. Ha!

In order to put some of those fears to rest, the producers also announced some new benefits for the staff. These include “five paid days off to use at their discretion, birthdays off, and paid time for doctors appointments and family matters,” per Variety. So… did they not have vacation days and sick days before this?? It’s unclear how many days off the staff had prior to this, or whether the Ellen show is just now getting around to giving their workers basic rights and trying to pass it off as a magnanimous gesture.

Still, insiders claimed that these perks, along with a tearful personal address from Degeneres herself, has “improved morale” amongst staffers as they prepare to return for a new season. According to at least one Variety source present for the meeting, the host’s remarks actually meant more than the perks did. They shared:

“It was important to know what and how much she knew. Because many of us really believe in her.”

That’s interesting as we previously heard a lot of employees also don’t.

It’s a little bit hard for us to believe that Ellen was completely unaware of the behaviors of her executive producers, or that she didn’t know about staffers facing drastic pay cuts until it was printed in Variety, as she has claimed. Certainly there are plenty of stories about Ellen herself being mean — you can find them quite easily on social media.

But if her staff feel safe and comfortable returning to work, that’s the most important thing.

Still, for those on the other side of the television screen, we have to know… Will it be harder for YOU to watch and enjoy The Ellen Degeneres Show after having seen this whole thing play out??

[Image via WENN/Instar]