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Ellen DeGeneres' showrunners held rare staff meeting to address 'low morale' after ex-bodyguard slammed host

Tom Majercak acknowledged that the comedian's role as a talk show host was not easy and that he had initially believed that he received the 'brunt of her frustration' because of her overwhelming job
UPDATED JUL 18, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

After Ellen DeGeneres' bodyguard recounted his less-than-pleasant experience with the daytime talk show host, the executive producers of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' were forced to hold an all-staff virtual meeting to address allegations of its toxic workplace environment and discuss the "low morale" among team members. According to a Buzzfeed report, a current employee of the executive producers made the "rare move" to call a staff meeting over Zoom to address "negative stories and low morale" on May 1 which was the same day a former bodyguard of DeGeneres, Tom Majercak, opened up about his grievances against the host.

We reported earlier that Majercak said that during the 86th Academy Awards, he was among the people who did not have a pleasant experience while up-close with DeGeneres. Majercak, while recalling the night he escorted DeGeneres, her mother and partner, Portia De Rossi, said: "I'm holding their hands and walking them through individuals and large groups of people. Ellen is the one person that I've been assigned to — and I've been assigned to quite a few celebrities — that has never taken the time to say hi to me." The security official added that he spent "a lot of time" with DeRossi who was "very pleasant and carried on a conversation". Majercak, former senior manager of operations for Security Imagery Specialists (SIS), left the organization in 2019. 

Ellen DeGeneres attends the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 05, 2020, in Beverly Hills, California (Getty Images)

"It started going negatively when she introduced me to Ellen and 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'," Majercak continued. "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." The former bodyguard said that the recent allegations made against the show host by her staff and a former guest motivated him to come forward with the truth about Ellen's behavior. "It's bugged me for years," Majercak shared. "I see this person come across as being very enlightened and positive and awesome and everybody loves her and is in awe and that's really not the case when you meet her in person."

Majercak acknowledged that the comedian's role as a talk show host was not easy and that he had initially believed that he received the "brunt of her frustration" because of her overwhelming job. However, he told the outlet that her behavior towards him was still "no excuse". "When you see her on TV, people fall in love with her but it is a false facade and bravado," he continued. "You start hearing these stories and I was like, 'Man, there's got to be more to this'. She's not the person she portrays to be that she's playing off of society. That's my opinion." "I can absolutely see through interacting with her first-hand that she doesn't care about anybody else as long as she's getting what she wants. People are starting to see her true self and that really lends to the support of what my initial thoughts of her have been over the last six years," he added.

On Friday, July 17, DeGeneres' show was hit by fresh allegations from former employees who said they faced bullying and racism behind the scenes and were fired for even attending family funerals. At least 10 former staff members and one current employee of the show spoke to Buzzfeed anonymously and claimed that the show's mantra "Be Kind" was only for the TV. "That 'be kind' bulls**t only happens when the cameras are on. It's all for show. I know they give money to people and help them out, but it's for show," a former employee said.

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