I am someone who loves celebrities—always have and always will, but boy oh boy is it hard in 2020. Celebrities continue to show their entire … well … a** by continuing to be silent during important movements in our history, or singing songs to help “inspire” people from their mansions when many are worried about being able to afford food. It’s been a mess, and I’m just constantly in awe of how obtuse human beings can be.
Now, celebrities are rallying behind Ellen because she was nice to them while on air, as her show faces allegations of being a hostile workplace. Someone had better get Dakota Johnson to spill the truth.
Dakota Johnson, your time is now pic.twitter.com/3VShYgkvQg
— rachel leishman (@RachelLeishman) August 5, 2020
Ellen DeGeneres has not been doing so hot right now. We should have known. Her name is DeGeneres, not Ellen Generous. (I’m really proud of this joke.) It has become something of a reckoning for the talk show host. For years, there have been rumblings about what working for Ellen was really like. In fact, there is always some kind of rumor about writing for these shows, but Ellen was the one I was probably warned about most frequently
But now, that’s neither here nor there. The problem is a bunch of celebrities responding to these concerns by … tweeting about how Ellen was nice to them. Of course she was! You were directly connected to her making money.
First, here are some of the celebrities talking about how great Ellen is … to them:
I haven’t spoken with @TheEllenShow and can only speak from my own experience. She & her team have only treated me & my team w/ respect & kindness. She never pandered to celebrity which I always saw as a refreshing honesty. When things aren’t right she handles it and fixes.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) August 5, 2020
1/2 I know I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience besides my own but I want to acknowledge that I have only ever had positive takeaways from my time with Ellen & on the @theellenshow. I think we all have witnessed the light & continual fight for equality that she has brought
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) August 4, 2020
I don’t discard a 40-year friendship on hearsay. The Ellen I know has raised over $125 million dollars for charity and has always been a kind and decent person. I fully support her. Jay Leno pic.twitter.com/b3i283YIBk
— Jay Leno (@jayleno) August 4, 2020
It seems absolutely baffling for this to be what they stand up for, especially when Ellen’s former employee, DJ Tony Okungbowa, even posted about the toxicity of the environment:
And then there are other celebrities with … terrible takes.
I’m no fan of @theellenshow but do we really need an investigation into whether her workplace was “toxic”? Every job site I ever worked on was toxic. And how toxic can it be if there’s air conditioning and free food every day?
— Adam Carolla (@adamcarolla) August 4, 2020
Let’s think about this for a second: Why wouldn’t Ellen be nice to you when you have status and money and a platform you could use against her if she weren’t? If you’re a celebrity and you’re someone who could simply tweet out “Ellen was mean to me when I went on her show,” it would start to unravel her entire game.
So … of course she was nice to you, and maybe it isn’t that manipulative. Maybe Ellen is generally very nice to a lot of people, but the point of everything happening isn’t that Ellen is a monster to every single person she meets. It’s that the workplace toxicity on The Ellen DeGeneres Show needed to be addressed for the wellbeing of her employees, and it’s hardly unusual for people who do bad things to be nice otherwise—that’s how they get away with it.
So, celebrities rushing out to say they were treated in a certain way by Ellen is … beside the point. The point is that her employees were allegedly mistreated. But I’m glad you like the Ellen underwear she gave your rich ass!
Obviously, many took to Twitter to express why this way of thinking is not helpful.
Did Ellen send a mass text who is next
— Ira Madison III (@ira) August 5, 2020
Just for the record: these celebrities coming out with their positive experiences with Ellen are gaslighting. They are using their platforms to manipulate the public dialogue and sow doubt on the stories of workers who’ve been harassed. https://t.co/FEv3GWia80
— Wagatwe Wanjuki 🇰🇪 🇧🇸 (@wagatwe) August 5, 2020
Ex-Employees of Ellen: Ellen‘s subordinates fostered a hostile work environment that included sexual assault, intimidation, & racism. Ellen did nothing about it because she’s not “nice” like y’all think she is.
Random Celebrity: ¿¿Have you……tried not being poor??
— Zoe Saldana’s Prosthetic Nose (@IWriteAllDay_) August 5, 2020
I have always enjoyed my visits to Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop and I have seen how the barber upstairs exudes happiness and gratitude when I am there they have treated me with nothing but kindness and respect
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) August 5, 2020
I am waiting for the celebrity who will admit Ellen was always a bitch to them
— bald n single ashley ray (@theashleyray) August 5, 2020
Please can Ellen’s celebrity mates stop using their platforms to undermine employees past and present who experienced a toxic work environment on The Ellen Show and are trying to force a culture shift.
Seriously, check your privilege! https://t.co/mMwhi7A9Wk
— Hanna Ines Flint (@HannaFlint) August 5, 2020
goofy will replace ellen
— Disneyland (@Disneyland2go) August 5, 2020
More bad press for Ellen. Supposedly, Dory was very short with the other fish on set. Couldn’t even remember their names.
— Alec Sulkin (@thesulk) August 5, 2020
I can only speak from personal experience but Ellen Page has been nothing but nice to me.
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) August 5, 2020
I can only speak for my experience but Ellen* has always been good to me**
*Burstyn
**in a range of performances across stage, TV, and film— Jackson McHenry (@McHenryJD) August 5, 2020
So, I guess this is my general message to celebrities: If there are multiple accounts from employees and an investigation happening, maybe don’t sit and share your fun Ellen story just because you think the internet is being unfair.
(image: NBC)
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