Portia de Rossi blasted for supporting Ellen DeGeneres, calling allegations fake: 'Don't act like she's a victim'
Portia de Rossi has made many to turn in favor of her wife Ellen DeGeneres after she came out in support of the comedian, following the launch of an investigation against the 'toxic workplace' allegations against the latter's talk show. However, the model and actress is now facing backlash from her fans for supporting Ellen.
On August 4, de Rossi took to Instagram to extend her support for Ellen amid all the allegations against her. She shared an image of a blue square with the words ‘I stand by Ellen’ and captioned the post, “To all our fans....we see you. Thank you for your support. #stopbotattacks. #IStandWithEllenDeGeneres #IStandByEllen #IstandByEllenDeGeneres.” You can see the post here.
She posted the message shortly after the hashtag "ReplaceEllen" started going viral with people suggesting replacements for Ellen. However, according to her post, Rossi believed that the negative tweets about her wife were the work of internet bots. However, there is no evidence to prove that they were indeed posted by fake users.
Nevertheless, soon after she showed her support on Instagram, the comments section of the post was filled with an intense hatred for the daytime host. "This can’t be real. Have some accountability. It isn’t made up when it’s dozens of employees and years of bad stories. stop acting like she is a victim when there are real victims," one said, while another quipped, "Because you have something to hide, that’s wy” and “I DONT STAND WITH ELLEN!” A third said, “Dont stand by Ellen when the truth finally came out and theres proof shes mistreated some of her guests."
The post comes days after the 'Finding Dory' star apologized for the claims of bullying and racism brought up by her present and former staffers in a letter to her employees. “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,” she wrote. “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.”
The host admitted that she failed to “stay on top of everything” that happened behind the scenes and instead “relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done.” “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,” she added. “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 any one of you felt that way is awful to me.”
However, just hours after her apology on July 31, Buzzfeed published a report where 36 former employees of the show accused the showrunners and top executive producers of sexual misconduct toward younger employees. Presently, the show has become the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia following numerous accounts of workplace problems. Executives from producer Telepictures and distributor Warner Bros Television sent a memo to staffers saying they have engaged WBTV-owner WarnerMedia’s employee relations group and a third-party firm after the working conditions at the show were exposed.
As per reports, the memo came from the desks of Telepictures executive vice president Donna Redier Linsk and WBTV vice president of human resources Donna Hancock Husband. Meanwhile, a third-party consultant is also involved but the name isn't clear as of now.