Ellen DeGeneres' apology evidently didn't go over well with a number of her current and former employees.
For the first time on her show, DeGeneres addressed allegations of a toxic workplace environment at The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. In her opening monologue, she said she's "so sorry to the people who were affected" and that she takes "responsibility for what happens at my show." But BuzzFeed News spoke to current and former employees who criticized DeGeneres' response and raised objections to her making numerous jokes during the apology; she opened the monologue by asking her audience how their summer was and sarcastically adding, "Mine was great. Super terrific!"
"When she said,' Oh, my summer was great' and that was supposed to be funny I thought, 'It's funny that you had a rough summer because everyone was calling out all of the allegations of your toxic work environment and now you're the one suffering?'" a former employee told BuzzFeed.
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DeGeneres also said it's "tricky" to be known as "the be kind lady" and joked, "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."
"Not only did Ellen turn my trauma, turn our traumas, into a joke, she somehow managed to make this about her," a former employee told BuzzFeed.
A current employee also criticized DeGeneres for making "inappropriate jokes" during the apology, and a former employee said, "When you're talking about people who have accused her leadership of the seriousness of sexual misconduct, I don't think it's appropriate to have jokes in the monologue." A former employee also said, "There's nothing wrong with being the 'be kind' lady if you're actually true to your word." Read more at BuzzFeed News.
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