Ellen Suspends Show

Ellen DeGeneres' talk show has been stop-and-go this year, and now it's stopping again. Ellen shut down early in the pandemic, then returned the air in early April, hosting from her living room. After an internal investigation into workplace mistreatment, it wasn't certain that the fall season would start on time in September—though it did. Now, a positive coronavirus test for DeGeneres is suspending production again. The host tweeted the news Thursday, TMZ reports. "Hi Everyone, I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19," DeGeneres wrote. "Fortunately, I’m feeling fine right now." She added that she's following CDC guidelines and that her close contacts have been told. "I'll see you again after the holidays," DeGeneres added.

The show's in-studio guests in the past week included Justin Bieber, Bryan Cranston, Alison Brie, Diane Keaton, and Lil Nas X. The plan is for Ellen to return to the air in January, per Variety. The talk show is coming off a ratings upswing, hitting its high point since May in the last week of November, carried by the show's yearly "12 Days of Giveaways." Reruns will now be shown until production resumes, per CNN. Ellen began taping with a limited studio audience in October. BuzzFeed reported this week that the show has been struggling this season to attract top-flight guests and advertisers. A Warner Bros. spokesperson declined to comment on the report. (More Ellen DeGeneres stories.)