Three top producers of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” are leaving after allegations of racism and employee mistreatment, Variety reported on Monday.
The news was shared during a videoconference call with over 200 staff members of the show, during which an “emotional” DeGeneres also spoke and apologized again to staffers, according to Variety.
Executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman, as well as co-executive producer Jonathan Norman, have “parted ways” with the show following reports of a toxic work environment that led to an investigation of the “Ellen” show last month, according to Variety.
DeGeneres also acknowledged recent reports about her own behavior toward staff members, and said she “wasn’t perfect,” according to People magazine.
“I’m a multi-layered person, and I try to be the best person I can be and I try to learn from my mistakes,” DeGeneres said, according to People. “I’m hearing that some people felt that I wasn’t kind or too short with them, or too impatient. I apologize to anybody if I’ve hurt your feelings in any way.”
DeGeneres told the staff “this is a reset, things are changing and things are going to be better moving forward. And she’s committed to that,” a source told People.
“She acknowledged she can be introverted at times and she apologized if that was ever seen as hurtful,” said another source, according to People. “They’re putting in real structures and resources for people so this never happens again and that is extremely important to Ellen. She was emotional seeing everybody. They’re family.”
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was investigated by WarnerMedia after a report from BuzzFeed News in July, in which current and former employees alleged there was a toxic work environment on set, Fox News reported.
The investigation led to interviews with over 100 people connected to the show, and though it didn’t find evidence of “systemic” racism, it did find that more could be done in regards to diversity, according to Fox News. Moving forward, the entire staff — including DeGeneres — will participate in diversity and inclusion workshops.
Meanwhile, Stephen “tWitch” Boss — the resident DJ of the “Ellen” show — has been made a co-executive producer, following the departure of Glavin, Leman and Norman, Variety reported.
Boss spoke out about the show last week in an interview with Us Weekly, as the Deseret News reported.
“Obviously there’s some things to address, but from my standpoint and from countless others, there’s been love,” Boss told Us Weekly. “I’ll just leave it at that until there’s a time where we can address more publicly. There’s been love and there will continue to be love.”
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is going into its 18th season, with the season debut being pushed back a few days to Sept. 14, according to Variety.