Portia de Rossi Is Sticking By Ellen DeGeneres’ Side No Matter What
When we last checked in with the saga between Ellen DeGeneres and those reputation-killing accusations, we were dealing with conflicting reports regarding her future as the host of her daytime TV talk show Ellen. There was one report that claimed Ellen couldn’t see how she could carry on with business as usual, what with all the stories about how working on the show is awful. But there was also talk that Ellen had no plans to leave her show and that she was fighting to make it a better place. Well, much like her invitation to Dakota Johnson’s birthday party, it sounds like Ellen is ready to bail. But no matter what she inevitably chooses to do, her wife of nearly 12 years Portia de Rossi is sticking with her.
Us Weekly is reporting that Ellen wants out, and it’s all because she’s been eating a steady diet of vegan delusion-like substitute, which allegedly has her believing that people should have been more grateful to work for her. A source says:
“She is pissed that people have come forward to share these negative stories about her and feels betrayed,” noting that the comedian feels like a “target” because of her success. “She knows she can be tough at times,” the insider says, “but believes she works hard and is extremely creative and that it’s a privilege to work for her and be around her.”
And the message that Ellen is shocked to hear about the working conditions on her show? That might be as real her smile when the cameras turn on. The terrific-named Hedda Muskrat was a producer on Ellen for the first two seasons of the show. She spoke to The Wrap about all of this, and according to Hedda, Ellen’s reign of terror isn’t new. via HuffPo:
Hedda Muskat told The Wrap that the comedian allowed a “culture of fear” from the show’s beginning. Muskat, who won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on the show, said she had “never seen” such “toxic host” behavior.
One incident involving executive producer Ed Glavin showed the tone of the workplace, Muskat said. Glavin is one of three show executives who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Muskat claimed Glavin started screaming at a staffer and “went off on them” in a meeting. She said she expected DeGeneres to do something, but instead the host giggled.
“She crossed her legs up on the chair and she said, ‘Well, I guess every production needs their dog.’ And from then we knew. Ed was going to be the barking dog — her dog. You could just see everybody’s faces go stiff. We’re professionals; we’re adults. We don’t need a dog to get us to do our jobs. Ed was a bully, but he worked for Ellen. It was her show.”
Ed has been accused of being handsy and inappropriate with employees. Ellen recently claimed in a staff memo that she set out to run a happy, welcoming show, but that something must have “changed” and was “disappointed to learn” about the accusations.
But on the other side of things is Portia. Portia recently took a break from rolling around in a swimming pool filled with $1000 bills and riding thoroughbred horses to defend the honor of her very rich wife on Instagram. Portia posted a giant blue square that read, “I Stand By Ellen,” and guaranteed herself a job as the new manager of Ellen’s public relations department by implying that criticisms that have been made against Ellen or the Ellen show have been the work of Ellen-hating “bots.”
The only problem is, BuzzFeed almost certainly verified the identities of the current and former employees they spoke to in their exposé about the toxic workplace environment at Ellen. And very real people like Brad Garrett and Lea Thompson have spoken up about the rumors, claiming that they’re true. Even a former producer has come out to publicly verify the rumors. So who are these bots? Why are there so many hashtags? And why does this feel like it should be narrated by Ron Howard? “On the next Arrested Development. Portia, on a quest to find all the bots, falls prey to a bank theft scam when one bot – posting as an anti-burglary expert – tricks her into giving up all her banking passwords.”
Pic: Wenn.com