Talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres is getting vulnerable about going to therapy after she was accused of creating a toxic workplace on her self-titled talk show back in 2020.
DeGeneres made the revelation in her new and final stand-up special called For Your Approval, which began streaming on Netflix Tuesday.
“I was in therapy for a while trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me. It was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with,” the 66-year-old explained.
“At one point, my therapist said, ‘Ellen where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’ And I said, ‘Well, New York Times, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, I think Elmo may have said something recently on an episode of Sesame Street,” she added.
“She said, ‘Well I think you just need to avoid looking at the news, just avoid media.’ I said, ‘I am. I’m not looking at anything.’ But I would always know when something was going on because I’d start getting texts from friends saying thinking of you or sending love,” she continued.
BuzzFeed was the first to break the news that things weren’t all sunshine and rainbows on the set, and several former employees came forward alleging “racism, fear, and intimidation.”
The allegations sparked an internal investigation that eventually led to three producers being fired, according to Variety.
“I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realized that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show,” DeGeneres said of the allegations in a September 2020 episode.
DeGeneres pulled the plug on the whole show in 2021. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, she explained that the show was no longer “a challenge.” The final episode aired in May 2022.
