Ellen not so generous

Something strange is happening to the reporting on the crisis imperiling Ellen DeGeneres’s long-running talk show. Reading about it now, you might get the impression that the crisis is solely about the collapse of DeGeneres’s image as the nicest, kindest star next to Tom Hanks.

She closes every show telling us to, “Be kind to one another,” a motto she has monetized with her “Be Kind by ellen” merchandizing brand that sells seasonal boxes “filled with Ellen’s favorite, hand-picked products,” claiming that “each box spreads kindness and champions brands that do the same!”

She came to prominence by coming out as gay when it was still a relatively brave thing to do. She places herself as a champion of Liberal rights yet…

In contrast to this image, an onslaught of accounts by employees and guests are attesting to the fact that she isn’t so kind behind the scenes.

This is good gossip, even if unsurprising in an industry reliant on contrived star images that are often at odds with reality. What’s lost is the initial cause of the scandal. It was a labor dispute that set the ball rolling, in particular the revelation of DeGeneres shafting her longtime crew during the COVID-19 crisis

This is good gossip, even if unsurprising in an industry reliant on contrived star images that are often at odds with reality. What’s lost is the initial cause of the scandal. It was a labor dispute that set the ball rolling, in particular the revelation of DeGeneres shafting her longtime crew during the COVID-19 crisis. According to a Variety story that broke on April 16.

” The core stage crew for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” consisting of more than 30 employees, received no written communication about the status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health from producers for over a month, said two sources, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Higher-ups in production would occasionally answer phone calls but reveal little, added one of the sources. The crew was further incensed by the show’s recent hire of an outside, non-union tech company to help DeGeneres tape remotely from her home in California. “

In other words, DeGeneres resumed doing her show with a cut-rate nonunion crew, while her own union crew of many years waited at home in a state of high anxiety, calling producers and getting stonewalled, wondering when they’d ever get back to work, where their next paycheck was coming from, and whether they should apply for unemployment.

Eventually it emerged that four people from the thirty-person crew were in fact still working, participating in the shoots that were now taking place at DeGeneres’s home. The remaining crew were told by producers to brace themselves for a 60 percent pay cut “even as the show continued to air,” and the shooting schedule expanded from four days per week to five.

DeGeneres is already a multi millionaire. She now shows that she is simply another part of a corrupt system that prefers meaningless selfies to a sense of solidarity.