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Portia de Rossi Says She Stands By Wife Ellen DeGeneres Amid Allegations of Mistreatment on Talk Show
Ellen DeGeneres‘ wife, Portia de Rossi, said she supports her wife amid multiple allegations of mistreatment and sexual misconduct on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“I stand by Ellen,” Portia, 47, shared on Instagram on Monday, August 3, next to a caption which read, “To all our fans … we see you. Thank you for your support.” The Arrested Development star also used the hashtags, “#stopbotattacks,” “#IStandWithEllenDeGeneres,” “#IStandByEllen” and “#IstandByEllenDeGeneres” in the post.
Portia’s statement comes a few days after Ellen addressed accusations from a Buzzfeed News report, which claimed her staffers faced racism, fear, intimidation and sexual misconduct while working for her talk show.
“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,” the Finding Dory star said in a letter to her employees, which was obtained by Us Weekly. “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.”
According to BuzzFeed News, 10 former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and one current staffer described the work environment there as “toxic” and said they felt unheard by management.
“If she wants to have her own show and have her name on the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what’s going on,” one former employee said about Ellen, who noted she couldn’t “stay on top of everything.”
“I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, ‘Things are going great, everybody’s happy,’ and she just believes that, but it’s her responsibility to go beyond that,” the former staffer said.
However, Ellen said she indeed plans on changing the way things are run behind-the-scenes. In her letter to her staff, the comedian said she was “glad” the issues were brought to her attention because she made a “promise” to continue learning and growing.
