Ellen said that she doesn't want to pay her staff overtime in a 2013 interview that's being resurfaced amid workplace allegations
Advertisement
Palmer Haasch
Jul 31, 2020, 22:03 IST
Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on May 24, 2016.Brooks Kraft/Getty Images
A clip from Ellen DeGeneres' 2013 appearance on the Australian "Today" show is resurfacing after an Australian radio host, who said that he was an executive producer on the show at the time, spoke about his experience working with DeGeneres' team.
In the clip, DeGeneres speaks about the work environment on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," saying that the team "[works] hard," but "not too hard that I have to pay them overtime."
DeGeneres' show is currently under investigation by distributor WarnerMedia after BuzzFeed News reported that former employees alleged that the show had a "toxic" work environment.
On Thursday, BuzzFeed published another investigative report where former employees alleged sexual misconduct in the office.
In a conversation with TV presenter Richard Wilkins on the Australian "Today" show, Wilkins asked, "Your TV show is a smash, we love it. How hard do you have to work to make it look that easy?"
"We work hard. I mean, we, you know, I won't fool you — I want everybody to work really really hard, hard enough to know that they're doing all they can but not too hard that I have to pay them overtime," DeGeneres said, to laughter in the background. "I draw the line at like, 'okay, go home, that's good.'"
The production around that conversation was reportedly awkward and laced with tension, Neil Breen, an Australian radio host who said that he was an executive producer on the Australian "Today" at the time, said on his radio show "4BC Breakfast." Breen said that DeGeneres' team told him that no one was to interact with Ellen, saying that while he never interacted with her, "the people who worked with her walked on eggshells the whole time."
The show is now the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia, the company that distributes it. According to Variety, staffers were sent a memo saying that WarnerMedia's employee relations group and a third party firm will interview current and former employees about their experiences working on the show.
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.