'Ellen DeGeneres Show' Has 'Toxic Work Environment' Despite 'Be Kind' Mantra, Ex-Employees Say

Ellen DeGeneres has always encouraged others to be kind, but some of the staff of her show didn't feel that they were treated that way, a report said.

BuzzFeed News spoke to one current and 10 former employees of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," all of whom asked to remain anonymous as they shared their experiences working for DeGeneres and the talk show's producers.

One of the former employees who came forward revealed that they were fired after taking medical leave for a month in order to seek help for a suicide attempt.

"Some of the producers talk openly in public about addiction and mental health awareness, but they’re the reason there’s a stigma," the ex-employee, who provided medical records as proof, said. "They definitely don’t practice what they preach with the ‘be kind’ mantra."

Another former staff member revealed that they were fired after they had to take some time off on three separate occasions within a year. They said that it was difficult getting approval for leave from their supervisors and HR despite having valid reasons.

These included a medical leave for three weeks after a car accident, leave to attend a family member's funeral and another three days off for another family member's funeral.

"That's the definition of a toxic work environment, where they make you feel like you're going insane and then you're like, no, everything I was feeling was right. It was all leading up to this," the former staffer, whose story was corroborated by five other ex-employees, told Buzzfeed News.

Another employee said they were reprimanded for trying to raise money for medical costs that the company didn't cover in their health insurance. They were told to take down the GoFundMe campaign they had shared on social media because it may show DeGeneres in a bad light.

"They discovered my fundraiser, then got mad at me. … They were more concerned about Ellen’s brand instead of helping me out," the former employee, whose story was supported by four other former staff members, revealed to the outlet.

A Black woman who used to work on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" also shared her racist encounter with one writer.

"I’m sorry, I only know the names of the white people who work here," one of the main writers allegedly told the Black ex-employee.

Her coworkers reportedly only "awkwardly laughed it off" instead of coming to her defense.

Meanwhile, another said that DeGeneres should take more responsibility for the people who work for her and what's going on behind the scenes because the show has her name on it.

"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," a former employee stated. "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."

Back in April, the crew of DeGeneres’ show also issued a complaint about poor communication regarding their pay and working hours during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, rumors have emerged that the controversy-riddled show would be canceled over sliding ratings, but the producers have denied it.