Ellen struggling with rumors that she's 'mean': 'She first thought it was all just sour grapes from some haters'
Ellen DeGeneres, who ritualistically ends her long-running talk show with the words, “Be kind to one another”, can't wrap her head around the fact that many of her former employees and guests on the show have called her out for being mean.
“Ellen is at the end of her rope,” a source revealed to Us Weekly. “She thought this was all just sour grapes from a few haters. But it’s not a passing thing — the hits just keep coming.”
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 the social media by joking that being quarantined in her $27-million mansion during the coronavirus pandemic was “like being in jail.”
There were also reports of crew members of the show facing a 60 percent reduction in pay even though the show continues to air amid the pandemic. The news drew a lot of criticism for the comedian. Social media, in fact, went on to call her a '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.
Comedian Chris Farah claimed that she had almost allegedly got fired from her job because of DeGeneres. She took to Twitter to share, "I worked @RealFoodDaily, served her & [Portia de Rossi] at brunch. She wrote a letter to the owner & complained about my chipped nail polish. Not that it was on her plate but just that it was on my hand. I had worked till closing the night before & this was next morn, almost got me fired."
A former staff member told NY Post earlier this month that DeGeneres is also allegedly one of the rudest celebrities in the world and that "the stories are all true!" "Is she always nice? No. It irritates me that people think she’s all sweetness and light and she gets away with it," the ex-employee said.
During this trying time, DeGeneres is leaning on her partner. “Ellen’s so grateful to have Portia in her life as a soulmate and a sounding board, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy,” a second source told Us Weekly. “Their home life is strained right now. Her real friends never ask her to be funny or tell jokes. They accept her as is.”
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,” the second insider noted. “Her best response is just being happy Ellen on the show every day.”