Ellen DeGeneres says the toxic workplace allegations about her talk show took 'such a toll on my ego'

Ellen DeGeneres discussed the ending of her talk show, and the toxic workplace controversy that's followed her, during the first performance of her stand-up tour.

• Two years after her talk show ended, Ellen DeGeneres launched a stand-up comedy tour.
• In her set, DeGeneres addresses the ending of her show and the toxic workplace allegations it sustained.
• Despite joking about the situation, DeGeneres said the ending of the show was "devastating."

Ellen DeGeneres addressed the end of her long-running talk show "Ellen" on the first night of her stand-up comedy tour — and while she cracked jokes about the experience, she said that it was "devastating."

DeGeneres' daytime talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," ran for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022. It came to an end about two years after BuzzFeed News reported that some former staffers alleged the show was a toxic workplace, prompting an internal investigation and eventually an apology from DeGeneres.

But, as Rolling Stone reported, DeGeneres doesn't have any desire for "revenge," something that she commented on when an audience member asked her directly if she would seek out those who "wronged" her.

"I don't know who wronged me," DeGeneres responded, per Rolling Stone. "I don't even know who these people are, so I can't seek revenge, but I really don't hold onto stuff. It's just not who I am."

The allegations in BuzzFeed's report, as well as other celebrities' testimonials about negative experiences with DeGeneres, contrasted starkly with the host's "be kind" motto.

Now, almost two years after the show's conclusion, she's launched her "Ellen's Last Stand…Up Tour" which kicked off in West Hollywood on Wednesday. And she's got jokes.

"I got kicked out of show business. There's no mean people in show business," DeGeneres joked during the set, according to Rolling Stone.

"The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind. I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps," she said. "Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, 'Go fuck yourself,' people would've been pleasantly surprised."

While DeGeneres made jokes about being ousted from Hollywood for the second time (the first, for those keeping score, came after she came out as a lesbian through her sitcom "Ellen"), she was clear in 2021 that she wasn't ending her show in response to the allegations. At the time, she told The Hollywood Reporter that she simply needed a new "challenge," and that she had already planned to end the show after its 19th season.

But despite the humorous approach, DeGeneres was clear about the impact that the allegations and ending of her show had on her.

"Honestly, I'm making jokes about what happened to me but it was devastating, really," she said, per Rolling Stone. "I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way."