Staffers Say “The Kelly Clarkson Show” Is A Traumatizing Work Environment (UPDATE)
Since its untimely, very public death– the vengeful ghost of The Ellen DeGeneres Show is now roaming the earthly plane of The Kelly Clarkson Show set because recently, numerous members of Kelly Clarkson’s staff are accusing the talk show of fostering a toxic workplace behind the scenes, and without Kelly’s knowledge.
Rolling Stone published an exposé today, where one current employee and ten former employees were interviewed about their experience working on the set of Kelly’s show. They put the show’s higher-ups on blast for overworking and underpaying them. They also found the environment to be “traumatizing to their mental health.” The staffers all believe that Kelly had no idea about the behind-the-scenes mess, saying the agents of the chaos are the show’s producers and “monster” executive producer Alex Duda, who supposedly indulged in the same toxic fuckery on Steve Harvey’s show and The Tyra Banks Show. One staffer claims he once asked them, “Why don’t Black people want to see Kelly?” According to A.V. Club:
Producers under Duda are said to engage in bullying and verbal abuse. One employee quit after a producer “yelled and cursed at them multiple times on stage.” A production manager was observed throwing a stapler across the room, and “would speak in a way that you’re not supposed to in a professional environment—cursing, raising his voice, and throwing a huge temper tantrum,” said a former staffer. Those who did report issues to HR saw no progress, and producers who were the subject of complaints in fact got promotions. Meanwhile, staffers subject to this environment suffered extreme anxiety, some sharing that they had physical symptoms like stress-induced vomiting and one person saying they took a leave of absence and saw a psychiatrist for the first time.
Apparently, HR was good for nothing. The employees claim that they took their issues against the producers to HR, but nothing was done. In fact, the producers with complaints against them were promoted. One of the former employees told Rolling Stone, “I don’t know what HR does at that show, frankly,” and that “nothing of consequence happened.”
NBCUniversal has already denied the claims in a statement to People:
“We are committed to a safe and respectful work environment and take workplace complaints very seriously and to insinuate otherwise is untrue. When issues are reported, they are promptly reviewed, investigated and acted upon as appropriate. The Kelly Clarkson Show strives to build a safe, respectful and equitable workplace that nurtures a culture of inclusivity and creativity.”
Since the news broke, Kelly hasn’t commented on the allegations, but her Twitter account did tweet a promo for her new single:
you’re my favorite kind of high 🤍 new song from my album #chemistry comes out on 5.19! pre-save now. https://t.co/9wAspqH0rb pic.twitter.com/gXS9IfTQgr
— Kelly Clarkson 🍷💔☀️ (@kellyclarkson) May 12, 2023
If Kelly really didn’t know about the alleged messiness happening behind the scenes on her own talk show, then I won’t be surprised if she belts out Heads Will Roll during “Kellyoke” while handing out pink slips to her producers.
UPDATE: Kelly released a statement to the claims, saying that it’s “unacceptable” for anyone on her staff to feel like they’ve been treated like shit, and she’s committed to a “safe and healthy environment.”
Pic: NBCUniversal