Ellen DeGeneres is hoping people will soon forget 'meanest person alive' tag due to coronavirus, claims expert
Despite being branded "meanest person alive" by celebrities, guests of her talk show and even her own personal bodyguard, the previously beloved talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has remained tight-lipped when it came to responding to the allegations. Celebrity brand expert Eric Schiffer recently explained why.
The year 2020 might be the "demise" for the 62-year-old's "facade" as stories of her "cold" and "dehumanizing" attitude have flooded the media over the recent months after she was forced to self-quarantine as the coronavirus pandemic worsened. Schiffer told Popculture in an interview that the reason DeGeneres might not have issued a statement clarifying the brewing rumors against her was because "one of the rules of crisis management is, 'Don't tell an untruth' and for her to come out and deny it would be an untruth."
It all started in April when beauty YouTuber Nikkie de Jager accused the 62-year-old talk show host of being "cold and distant" when she appeared on her show in January. In the same month, she incurred the wrath of social media by joking that being quarantined in her $27-million mansion during the coronavirus pandemic was "like being in jail".
"It revealed who she is to the world, first through how she treated her staff and eviscerating them from the payroll during a time in which people could barely pay the rent if they didn't have a position, and two, many leaked the truth about who had been holding them back. It allowed others to feel emboldened and free to speak the truth about the Ellen DeGeneres that they see — the single biggest phony in the history of modern Hollywood," Schiffer said.
There were also reports of crew members of the show facing a 60 percent reduction in pay even though the show continues to air during the pandemic. The news drew a lot of criticism for the comedian. Social media, in fact, went on to call her "very nasty" and "a garbage human being" for not taking care of her employees.
A former bodyguard of DeGeneres who had protected her while she was hosting the 2014 Academy Awards spoke to Fox News and said how unfriendly she was. "Ellen pretty much just gave me a side glance out of her eye and didn't even say 'hello' or 'thank you for protecting my mother, my wife, and me'. It was very cold and it was very sly and it was actually kind of demeaning in the way that she treats people other than those who are in her circle," Tom Majercak revealed.
Despite the negative reports about her behavior, the popularity of the talk show host continues to soar, meaning that her fanbase has not been affected by the backlash. "Ellen's been in our homes for so long, it'll take a lot more than a bodyguard and a blogger to change how people feel about her," a second insider noted. "Her best response is just being happy Ellen on the show every day."
However, that might soon change when her fanbase realizes that everything they believed about their idol was not true. "One of the things that Ellen had going for her brand was that she seemed sincere and down to earth and heartfelt," Schiffer explained. "Because authenticity is the coin of the realm in terms of connection with fans and with an audience."
Schiffer said that DeGeneres' team will be "hoping that people will lose interest and focus instead on the virus." However, Covid-19 is "not going to save her in this situation," he added. The press has smelled blood and they will continue to "escalate and move the story forward, and that will create more pain for her brand." The brand expert said that a more humble "admission" from DeGeneres could "go a long way" with her fans. Without a response, viewers will see her "continue to get hammered because of her character, that might get arrested, but it's going to require her to look in the mirror and to decide to humble herself."