Portia de Rossi is standing by wife Ellen DeGeneres as controversy surrounds the comedian’s daytime talk show.
Last week, DeGeneres, 62, issued an apology to the staff members of her show after former employees anonymously described the workplace environment as “toxic” in a BuzzFeed News report. The show is also undergoing an internal investigation by WarnerMedia.
On Monday, de Rossi, 47, expressed her support for DeGeneres on Instagram. (The couple tied the knot in August 2008 in an intimate ceremony, announcing the news of their wedding immediately after California’s Supreme Court struck down a law banning same-sex marriage.)
“To all our fans….we see you. Thank you for your support,” de Rossi captioned her post, adding the hashtags #stopbotattacks, #IStandWithEllenDeGeneres, #IStandByEllen, #IstandByEllenDeGeneres and #bekindtooneanother, the phrase with which DeGeneres closes out her show each day.
It was not immediately clear what de Rossi meant by her reference to “bot attacks.” A rep for DeGeneres has not commented.
On Thursday, DeGeneres penned a lengthy memo to her employees in which she addressed the alleged workplace toxicity.
“My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that,” she wrote. “Alongside Warner Bros, we immediately began an internal investigation and we are taking steps, together, to correct the issues. As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”
She promised to do her “part” in pushing herself and others “to learn and grow.”
“We all have to be more mindful about the way our words and actions affect others, and I’m glad the issues at our show were brought to my attention,” she said. “I promise to do my part in continuing to push myself and everyone around me to learn and grow. It’s important to me and to Warner Bros. that everyone who has something to say can speak up and feels safe doing so.”
Warner Bros. said in a statement on Thursday that “dozens of current and former employees” had been interviewed, and that they were “disappointed that the primary findings of the investigation indicated some deficiencies related to the show’s day-to-day management.”
Moving forward, Warner Bros. said they have “identified several staffing changes, along with appropriate measures to address the issues that have been raised, and are taking the first steps to implement them.”
“Warner Bros. and Ellen DeGeneres are all committed to ensuring a workplace based on respect and inclusion. We are confident this course of action will lead us to the right way forward for the show,” the statement concluded.
Executive producers Mary Connelly, Andy Lassner, and Ed Glavin also said in a previous statement that they take full responsibility for daily operations on the show.
“Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes and employing over 1000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe and inclusive work environment,” they said in a joint statement to BuzzFeed News in July. “We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience.”
“It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us,” they added at the time. “For the record, the day-to-day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us. We take all of this very seriously and we realize, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better.”
Former employees of the show have also anonymously alleged sexual misconduct and harassment involving top producers at the show, including Glavin and head writer Kevin Leman, according to a separate report published Thursday by BuzzFeed News.
Leman and another producer have denied the allegations against them in separate statements. Glavin has not yet publicly addressed the allegations.
A spokesperson for WarnerMedia declined to comment on the report.
Freelanews is the editorial byline of Freelanews.com, used for staff reports, news updates, press releases, and collaborative stories produced by the Freelanews Editorial Team.
