Ellen DeGeneres Announces She's Ending Her Talk Show
Update, May 12, 2021, 11:50 a.m. ET:
After the upcoming season 19 of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter that she's walking away. She reportedly informed her staff of her decision to leave the show on May 11 and will do a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey to discuss the announcement on Ellen's May 13 show.
"When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” Ellen told the outlet.
The show first debuted in 2003 and over its 18-year run has picked up 64 Daytime Emmy Awards.
Warner Bros.' unscripted TV president Mike Darnell told THR: "Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that truly great things never will." He also called the show an "absolute phenomenon" and that the program had established itself as "the premiere destination for both superstars and incredible heartfelt human-interest stories."
Ellen's announcement comes less than a year after she found herself in the middle of controversy over allegations of a toxic workplace, which prompted an internal investigation and the dismissal of some executives. During the season 18 premiere of her show, Ellen addressed the accusations head on.
"I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected," she said in part.
Despite the controversy, Ellen maintained that it's not the reason for her departure."It almost impacted the show. It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn't have come back this season," she said.
Original, July 29, 2020, 12:58 p.m. ET (with previous updates):
In early 2019, a lot of hearsay circulated about Ellen DeGeneres possibly walking away from her daytime talk show. Back then, many outlets claimed that Ellen, who has hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show since 2003, was ready to give up her gig and "quit Hollywood" for good.
What's more, recent negative allegations from Ellen's employees and former bodyguard have prompted cancellation rumors to spread. On top of that, The New York Times reported this week that WarnerMedia is now holding an investigation into The Ellen Degeneres Show work environment, following a string of discrimination and mistreatment complaints.
Will The Ellen DeGeneres Show soon be a thing of the past? Here's all that we know:
Is Ellen DeGeneres quitting her talk show? Is the show getting canceled?
The answer to both questions appears to be no.
In her 2018 profile for The New York Times, it was revealed that Ellen had extended her contract until the summer of 2020.
That said, this was before a report came out highlighting how "distressed and outraged" her talk show crew members were over their treatment from top producers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Not too long after that, her former bodyguard told Fox News that her behavior was "cold" and "actually kind of demeaning." All of these reports have seemed to fuel rumors that the show is coming to an end.
When the New York Post reached out to Ellen’s production company in July to see if the cancellation rumors had any validity to them though, a spokesperson replied, “Telepictures can confirm it’s untrue.” In other words, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is here to stay.
In the past, Ellen "had been close to declining" a contract extension.
Ellen has made it clear that she's toyed with the idea of walking away before, and she apparently "changes her mind all the time" about leaving. The talk show host told the Times that she'd love to do another movie or take on other projects (which is, obviously, more difficult when you run your own talk show).
Her wife, Portia de Rossi, also said in the story that she didn't think Ellen's career would end at her show. Her brother, however, supposedly wants her to continue. “[Portia] gets mad when my brother tells me I can’t stop,” Ellen said.
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