When Ellen DeGeneres addressed allegations of a toxic workplace at her talk show last year, she said "things happened here that never should have happened" and "the necessary changes" had been made. Her stance appears a little different now after announcing the Ellen DeGeneres Show is nearing its end. In a Thursday interview with Today's Savannah Guthrie, the comedian was asked if she felt like she was being "canceled" and replied, "I really didn't understand it. I still don't understand it … It was too orchestrated. It was too coordinated." She then suggested she was a victim. "People get picked on, but for four months straight for me," she said, per Variety. Speaking of the allegations, she added, "All I've ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is and what a happy place this is."
"I am a kind person ... who likes to make people happy," and "I had no idea, never saw anything that would even point to" a toxic environment, she added. "I have to say if nobody else is saying it, it was really interesting because I'm a woman, and it did feel very misogynistic." A rep tells Deadline that the host was referring to negative comments on social media and in the press. DeGeneres told Guthrie that she was blindsided when she first heard about the toxic workplace allegations in the media. "I don't know how I could have known when there's 255 employees here and there are a lot of different buildings, unless I literally stay here until the last person goes home at night," she said. But "it is my name on the show, so clearly it affects me and I have to be the one to stand up and say, 'This can't be tolerated.'" (A 2019 interview with Dakota Johnson apparently played a role.)