The Only Recap Of Ellen DeGeneres' Downfall You Need

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Ellen DeGeneres is no stranger to weathering a storm. After famously coming out on both the front cover of Time magazine and in her eponymous sitcom during the less liberal late '90s, the comedian experienced an almighty backlash from middle America which put her in the showbiz wilderness for several years. Of course, she eventually bounced back in 2003 with a self-titled chat show which gradually became a daytime TV institution, won countless Emmy Awards, and led to hosting gigs for pretty much every major award ceremony in the entertainment business.

However, the downward trajectory that began at the eve of the current decade seems as though it might be harder to reverse. Indeed, the once-ubiquitous star has been noticeably absent from our screens since hanging up her talk show boots amid numerous controversies which undeniably changed the public perception of her forever. Here's a look at how DeGeneres' dramatic fall from grace developed.

It could be argued that the wheels of the Ellen DeGeneres train first started to fall off in October 2019 when she was pictured enjoying a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys with ex-POTUS George W. Bush. Indeed, as one of America's most visible gay personalities, the chat show host was accused of betraying her community by cozying up to a man who while in the White House had advocated against same-sex marriage.

Addressing the backlash on her daytime chat show soon after, DeGeneres refused to apologize for the company she kept. The funnywoman, who revealed that she and other half Portia de Rossi had attended the game after being invited by the daughter of the Cowboys' owner, insisted that she hadn't known at the time she'd be placed next to the former Republican president. However, she saw no problem with the seating arrangement, telling audiences (via BBC News), "I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs I have."

The unrepentant DeGeneres, who had previously chewed the fat with the 42nd on a 2017 episode of her chat show, went on to make fun of the avalanche of disapproving tweets she received. She also expressed her gratitude for the day of fun and even joked that after treating him to some nachos, Bush owed her six dollars. 

You could have cut the tension with a knife during Ellen DeGeneres' interview with Dakota Johnson in November 2019. The latter was appearing on the former's chat show to promote her latest movie, "The Peanut Butter Falcon." But the only thing anyone talked about afterward was the excruciatingly awkward frostiness between the pair. And the general consensus pointed the blame firmly at the host.

The drama began when, out of nowhere, DeGeneres appeared to express offense that she hadn't been invited to her guest's recent 30th birthday bash. But the nepo baby — Johnson's famous parents are Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith — soon put the record straight. "Actually, no, that's not the truth," she insisted before advising her new nemesis to ask her behind-the-scenes team.

DeGeneres was forced to eat humble pie when she was quickly informed that yes, her presence at the party had been requested. "Why didn't I go?," she responded before quipping, "Oh yeah I had that thing. [The party] was probably in Malibu, that's too far for me to go to." Although the interview got back on track, the fact the comedian had tried to publicly call out Johnson was seen by many as mean girl behavior and just one of the many times she'd made her guests uncomfortable.

Ellen DeGeneres' reputation as TV's nicest woman truly came tumbling down in March 2020 thanks to a Twitter thread which took on a life of its own. The floodgates opened when comedy writer Kevin T Porter revealed he'd pledge two dollars to a Los Angeles food bank for any story which confirmed that the chat show host was "notoriously one of the meanest people alive." And he could have gone bankrupt!

"A new staff member was told 'every day she picks someone different to really hate. It's not your fault, just suck it up for the day and she'll be mean to someone else the next day,'" came one of the more damaging allegations. DeGeneres was also accused of sending her employees home if they conversed with her without chewing gum beforehand, apparently because of her sensitive nose. While an alleged Real Food Daily server claimed that she'd nearly lost her job after the celebrity penned a complaint about the state of her nail polish.

'I always thought that she was kind of bulletproof," the man who started the post told Metro in 2021. "I imagine the accountability that happened last year was hard. It was a real drag to take the status hit, or the image hit, or whatever the impact that it had." Indeed, what started as a bit of online fun soon snowballed into a full-on scandal.

While most of the anti-Ellen DeGeneres Twitter thread could be dismissed as pure hearsay, the backlash that emerged from the funnywoman's daytime talk show was grounded in something far more authoritative. Indeed, in the early days of the pandemic, several employees alleged that their boss had essentially left them high and dry.

As reported by Variety, approximately 30 crew members had been kept in the dark during the initial lockdown stages, with producers failing to provide any official information about everything from their salaries to their scheduled hours. And they were left even more enraged on discovering that "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" had also used a firm outside of their union to help the funnywoman continue hosting from her California pad.

The week previously, DeGeneres had claimed that the only reason she'd returned to work in such a turbulent time was for her behind-the-scenes team: "I love them, I miss them, the best thing I can do to support them is to keep the show on the air."

Remember when the early stages of the lockdown appeared to warp some celebrities' minds? There was the "Imagine" video in which Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, and a whole host of famous faces who should have known better believed what society needed was a patronizing rendition of a John Lennon classic. And who can forget when Ellen DeGeneres compared staying in her glamorous California pad worth millions of dollars to a prison cell?

Yes, DeGeneres didn't exactly endear herself to the world at a time when most of us were feeling genuinely claustrophobic, uploading a YouTube video in which she remarked (via Sky News), "One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people — this is like being in jail, is what it is." This was said while in a spacious lounge space overlooking a scenic countryside landscape.

"It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay," DeGeneres went on to quip, although it's fair to say that most viewers didn't see the funny side. Following another mountain of tweets in which she was castigated for being tone-deaf, the talk show host removed the offending comparison from the clip.

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" situation went from bad to worse in July 2020 when several anonymous staff members, both former and existing, made further damaging allegations about their experiences on the daytime institution. One employee revealed they felt no choice but to quit their position after experiencing racism in the workplace, while another revealed they'd been let go after taking time off for a family bereavement.

While DeGeneres herself wasn't specifically called out for such conduct, many believed that she shouldn't escape scrutiny. "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," an ex-staffer told BuzzFeed News. "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."

Three such producers, Andy Lassner, Mary Connelly, and Ed Glavin, were the first to officially address the accusations and insisted that the buck stopped with them. "We take all of this very seriously and we realize, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better," they told the same site in a statement. But this certainly wasn't the final say on the matter.

Following the latest bout of serious allegations about the toxicity of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," an internal investigation was launched by Warner Bros. Entertainment unit Telepictures — and it uncovered even more damaging behavior within the workplace.

Three executive producers subsequently parted company with the show, with both Kevin A. Leman II and Jonathan Norman said to have subjected colleagues to sexual harassment and Ed Glavin accused of using intimidating tactics and touching inappropriately.

Warner Bros' executive vice president of programming David McGuire emailed all employees to express his desire for a new culture change. "Many of you have spoken with WarnerMedia's investigators, and we thank you for your honesty," he wrote (via BuzzFeed News). McGuire continued, writing, "I hope this note is another way we are showing our commitment to do better." It took a while, however, for DeGeneres to deliver an apology. And when it did come, not everyone was convinced, or comforted, by what she had to say.

While some celebrities leapt to support Ellen DeGeneres as the toxic workplace scandal threatened to engulf her career, others only added fuel to the fire. Take "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Brad Garrett, for example, who agreed with the general Twitter consensus that her Be Kind demeanor was all a front.

"Sorry but it comes from the top," Garrett wrote in response to all the damaging allegations made about "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," on which he'd previously guested on no fewer than six occasions in the mid-2000s (via People). Also tagging in the host herself, he added, "Know more than one who were treated horribly by her.⁩ Common knowledge."

Garrett's claims were backed up by Lea Thompson, whose "Caroline in the City" sitcom aired during the same period as Ellen's eponymous vehicle in the 1990s. The actor tweeted, "True story. It is."

Several months after Ellen DeGeneres' reputation and the workplace culture of her eponymous chat show were called into question, the star finally realized it was about time she offered a public apology. Unfortunately, it didn't come across as the most sincere.

During a September 2020 episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the host began her monolog asking the audience how their summer was before, with just a hint of sarcasm, adding, "Mine was great. Super terrific." She then continued, saying, "Let me give you some advice out there if anybody's thinking of changing their title or giving yourself a nickname, do not go with the 'be kind' lady. Don't do it."

Many people, including several former employees who'd come forward with allegations about the show's toxic environment, took to social media to express their disapproval, arguing that DeGeneres was trivializing the situation and making it all about her. In her defense, the funnywoman did go on to offer some more serious words of contrition, remarking, "I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected."

Would all the controversy harm viewership for the chat show that had ruled daytime TV for the best part of two decades? Well, at first, it appeared to have a positive effect. In fact, the 2020 premiere of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was the highest in four years.

However, the curiosity factor only lasted so long. Over the following six months, the show hemorrhaged over a million viewers. This left "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" lagging far behind the likes of "Live: With Kelly and Ryan" and "Dr. Phil." In perhaps the biggest sign of its decline, it was now also only just hovering above chat shows hosted by Maury Povich and Steve Wilkos, the one-time security guard of exploitation king Jerry Springer.

If that wasn't enough bad news, the advertising revenue brought in by the show also experienced a sharp downturn, falling from $131 million to $105 million (via Forbes). Those worrying numbers left many wondering how much longer the show would be on air.

As it happens, the fate of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was soon decided. In May 2021, the host confirmed that the daytime TV institution would be coming to an end. "I was going to stop after season 16," DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter. "That was going to be my last season and they wanted to sign for four more years and I said I'd sign for maybe for one." After being told this wasn't an option, both parties came to a three-year compromise. The comedian also insisted that the string of controversies hadn't affected her decision. "If I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn't have come back this season."

DeGeneres acknowledged that the final show would be incredibly emotional. And so it proved as she waved farewell to her audience in a teary finale, which featured the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Pink, and Billie Eilish. In a clever full circle moment, the host wrapped things up in the same way she started the first episode 19 seasons earlier: looking at herself on the small screen while perching herself on a sofa.

Having spent nearly two decades as a permanent fixture of daytime TV and four years on prime time, Ellen DeGeneres suddenly found herself disappearing from the schedules altogether. Indeed, shortly before wrapping up her long-running eponymous chat show, the comedian also learned that its evening spin-off was also being put out to pasture after four seasons.

"Ellen's Game of Games" had been an NBC hit since debuting in 2017. And like its title suggests, it saw the host expand on several of the most playful segments from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" including Blindfolded Musical Chairs, Don't Leave Me Hanging, and You Bet Your Wife. It also gave contestants the chance to win a cool $100,000 in the process.

DeGeneres couldn't contain her excitement when the show was first announced, comparing it to the likes of "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "American Ninja Warrior" before acknowledging (via Vogue), "Okay, it's nothing like that, but you should still watch." Unfortunately for the host, it appears as though not enough people did.

After taking a break from spotlight in the wake of her eponymous talk show's end, Ellen DeGeneres briefly returned to our screens with a documentary for the Discovery Channel titled "Saving the Gorillas: Ellen's Next Adventure." Her following adventure turned out to be a return, and a goodbye, to the world of stand-up. But as with pretty much everything she touched in the 2020s, the farewell tour didn't exactly run smoothly.

Indeed, in July 2024, DeGeneres suddenly canceled four dates, including shows in Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego. The comedian, whose soured reputation flushed her plans of a TV return down the toilet, didn't offer any explanation at the time and hasn't offered once since, either. This wouldn't be the only time that she disappointed fans looking forward to a night of entertainment, though.

The following year, DeGeneres also swiftly pulled a series of shows scheduled in her adopted homeland. Having moved to the U.K.'s Cotswolds with other half Portia de Rossi to escape Donald Trump's second presidency, the funnywoman announced a local tour dubbed "In Conversation." But sadly, and again for reasons unknown, the conversation was cut short before a word had been said.

If Ellen DeGeneres thought she'd be able to put an end to the naysayers with her 2024 Netflix special, well, she soon had to think again. Indeed, the reviews for "For Your Approval" were at best lukewarm and at worst positively scathing.

"Painfully self-indulgent," remarked Variety. "Bizarre, unfunny, and self-pitying" came the verdict from The Independent. And The Guardian was particularly unimpressed, noting, "As a study in evasion, self-mythologizing — and world-beating servility on the part of her audience — 'For Your Approval' takes some beating."

Most of the criticism centered on DeGeneres' handling of the toxic workplace controversy which engulfed the final years of her eponymous chat show, the general consensus being that she'd failed to confront the drama head on, was relying too much on a rapturous crowd who whooped and hollered their way through the entire set, and was still proclaiming herself as the victim. The comedian, who also can't stop adding fuel to the phony Portia marriage chatter, had insisted that she'd soon be permanently quitting the stand-up circuit, and for many reviewers, her retirement couldn't come soon enough.