Lea Thompson confirms Brad Garrett’s claims about Ellen DeGeneres' mistreatment of employees: 'True Story'
Lea Thompson is in agreement with Brad Garrett after he said it was "common knowledge" that employees working for Ellen DeGeneres's eponymous daytime talk show were mistreated by her. The 59-year-old 'Back to the Future' star responded to Garrett's comments on the workplace environment at The Ellen DeGeneres Show, People reported.
"Sorry but it comes from the top @TheEllenShow," the 'Everybody Loves Raymond' alum tweeted on Friday, after having appeared as a guest on the show six times between 2004 and 2007. "Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge."
Thompson, who agreed with Garrett's assessment, wrote on Twitter, "True story. It is."
WarnerMedia was forced to launch an internal investigation after former employees described the show's workplace environment as "toxic."
DeGeneres shared a lengthy apology with staffers on Thursday, saying that she is "disappointed" that the workplace was not the "place of happiness" she sought to create when the show launched. She also added that she is "glad the issues" were brought to her attention, and she is promising to do her "part" in pushing herself and others "to learn and grow." "Hey everybody – it’s Ellen. On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect. Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show," DeGeneres began.
She claimed responsibility for the behavior of her production team and promised to improve the day-to-day environment. "I could not have the success I’ve had without all of your contributions. My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that," she wrote. "Alongside Warner Bros, we immediately began an internal investigation and we are taking steps, together, to correct the issues. As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again," she wrote.
The veteran talk show host said some of her colleagues have been misrepresenting her. "I’m also learning that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop," DeGeneres continued. "As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded. To think that anyone of you felt that way is awful to me."
According to a report by Buzzfeed News on Thursday, former employees have also anonymously alleged sexual misconduct and harassment involving the show's top producers. They leveled allegations about the show's culture behind the scenes, including the conduct of head writer Kevin Leman and executive producer Ed Glavin.