Ellen DeGeneres Announces The End Of Her Show After Scandals Tank Her Ratings

Ellen DeGeneres announced on Tuesday that her eponymous talk show is coming to an end months after her toxic workplace scandal.

DeGeneres Discusses Ending Her Show

According to The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres informed her staffers on Tuesday that “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is ending. It’s been on the air for 19 years. And, she will be sitting down with Oprah Winfrey to discuss the decision on Tuesday’s show.

“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” DeGeneres told the outlet. 

Warner Bros.’ Unscripted TV President Mike Darnell spoke out about the decision as well, claiming that he had been urging DeGeneres to reconsider as recently as late April. 

“Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that truly great things never will,” said Darnell, adding that “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is “an absolute phenomenon,” having established itself over the nearly twenty years that it was on television “as the premiere destination for both superstars and incredible heartfelt human-interest stories.”

Related: Ellen DeGeneres’ Toxic Workplace Scandal Comes Back To Haunt Her – Struggles With Ratings, Guests, And Advertisers

DeGeneres’ Toxic Workplace Scandal

Last summer, the show was in major danger of being cancelled after DeGeneres was accused of tolerating racism, sexism, and even sexual misconduct on the set to the talk show.

On Wednesday, however, she claimed that her decision to end the show has nothing to do with the scandal.

“It almost impacted the show. It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very,” DeGeneres show. “But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season. So, it’s not why I’m stopping.”

In August 2020, three senior producers were let go from the show. Warner Brothers confirmed that the show “parted ways” with executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman, and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman.

The scandal had a devastating impact on the ratings of the show. DeGeneres lost over one million viewers this season. 

However, she didn’t talk about this in the interview. She instead focused on how proud she allegedly is of the show. 

“I’m not the pretty girl who made it in Hollywood because of the way I looked,” she said. “I worked from nothing to doing standup to to having this career and I’m so proud of this show. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. And so I’ll miss everything but, in my gut, I know it’s time to do something different.”

Full Story: Ellen DeGeneres’ ‘Toxic Workplace’ Scandal Comes Calling – Show Posts 1+ Million Viewer Loss

This Show Was On Its Last Legs Anyway

The toxic workplace scandal inarguably shattered DeGeneres’ “nice girl” image because it made it hard to take her seriously when she ended each episode of her show by telling viewers to “be kind” for one another.

She may be ending her show on her terms, but it likely would not have lasted much longer anyway.