Ellen DeGeneres Has COVID-19
I’m sure that sometime between the numerous articles posted about the Ellen show’s alleged toxic workplace problem and the reports of allegedly tanking ratings, Ellen DeGeneres asked herself, “Could this year get any worse?” It would appear 2020 found a way for things to get worse for Ellen. Because Ellen has revealed she tested positive for COVID-19, and her show is going on hiatus.
Ellen made the announcement earlier today on multiple social media platforms and the message was all the same: She had tested positive for coronavirus. But the good news for Ellen is that she doesn’t have bad COVID symptoms at the moment. To be fair, she might have chills, but that could just be due to the fact that her heart is made of ice, allegedly. Ellen says she has taken the proper precautions, like disclosing her COVID status to people she works with. The Ellen show has been put on hold until after the holidays. The good news for Ellen is that she has a really nice place to isolate in for the next couple of weeks (even if she doesn’t think so).
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Variety notes that Ellen’s COVID news comes right in the middle of her annual 12 Days of Giveaways, where she showers her audience with expensive gifts every day for 12 days. A spokesperson for Telepictures, which produces Ellen, tells Variety that the show won’t resume filming until sometime in January. I hope Ellen doesn’t suspend her urge to give just because the show is suspended. For example, maybe she can give her crew enough paychecks to get through this second production hiatus.
Ellen’s pause in production comes right in the middle of some of her highest ratings the show has seen since May. But if you ask BuzzFeed about that, they’ll say it’s not entirely true. It’s been two months since Ellen returned to the Ellen studio and issued a public apology for the toxic behavior behind-the-scenes. BuzzFeed, who exposed Ellen over the summer with a piece about the toxic workplace culture of her show, decided to check in on the show and see how it’s doing. According to sources – not great. via BuzzFeed:
A current employee told BuzzFeed News that the show and its digital content have fewer advertisers and sponsors compared to past years – a shift that took place over the summer that they don’t attribute to just the pandemic. Another source who declined to be named also confirmed the situation to BuzzFeed News. According to the employee, staffers aren’t able to produce as much new content as a result of less advertising money, so their projects are slowing down and they’re recycling old video clips from past seasons.
One source also tells BuzzFeed they are having a hard time booking A-list talent on the show:
“For the first time, everyone was starting to ask us, ‘If you have an idea, tell us because we will listen. If you have an idea for a celeb, even if they’re not A-list or famous, we’ll take anyone who will bring us numbers and eyeballs,'” the employee said. “That’s when they started to be real with us and essentially said, ‘Give us anything because we need help.’ Our old strategy doesn’t work anymore.”
One publicist, who remained anonymous, told BuzzFeed that they wouldn’t put their client on Ellen, because they don’t want to possibly tarnish their client’s reputation. Another publicist claimed that Ellen was starting to feel “manufactured,” and became a place that catered to Scooter Braun and the Kardashian family. Another publicist claimed that the first choice for a daytime TV appearance would be with Kelly Clarkson or Drew Barrymore.
All that combined, and the alleged ratings should be no surprise.
In October, the tracking firm Nielsen reported that ratings for The Ellen DeGeneres Show have declined about 37% from last season; about 1.7 million average viewers tuned into Season 18’s premiere week, compared to about 2.7 million people who watched that of Season 17 in September 2019. While ratings for syndicated talk shows are down by 19% on average, The Ellen Show’s drop is the largest.
If any or all of that is true, then Ellen is probably not hating being at home until the new year. But I do take issue with the one anonymous show source who claims they’re having trouble booking talent for the show, or the publicist that accused Ellen of catering to the Kardashians. Yes, they’re on the show way too much. But every time a Kardashian or Jenner appears on Ellen, they almost always look like a completely different person. That counts as booking new talent.
Pic: YouTube