Rachael Ray’s Employees Are Struggling To Pay Bills After She Donates Millions To COVID Relief

“The Rachel Ray Show” continues from the comfort of host Rachel Ray’s home amid the coronavirus pandemic, but crewmembers aren’t happy about the talk show’s new format.

A report from Variety indicated that crewmembers of the show are concerned they will not be paid through the end of the season as in-studio production of the show has stopped.

As Ray continues to shoot her show from her home with her husband during the pandemic, much of her crew has been eliminated, causing about 20 people to claim they will not be paid or have health insurance for the rest of the show’s season, BuzzFeed said.

“My savings is dwindling. I’m not going to be able to pay my bills, and then in the next six months I won’t have worked enough union hours to cover my health insurance,” one crew member told the site.

This has only been further compounded by Ray’s donation of $4 million to coronavirus relief as the talk show host’s executives have said that she is uncomfortable returning to the set because of the virus.

Crewmembers for the show have said the move by Ray comes as a shock as they previously always felt supported by the host as well as executives and producers, according to BuzzFeed.

“It’s hard when you work for a show for 14 years and they say, ‘We’re going to take care of you and we’re all family. We’re going to pay you guys for September and October,’ so you expect the show is going to come back to the studio or they’re going to keep paying you because of our contracts,” one crew member told the news outlet. “But now we’re left with nothing.”

“Rachel Ray” producers and the union that represents the technical crewmembers have not reached an agreement, Variety said.

Ray responded to the allegations on Twitter, noting that she found the reports "disturbing" and inaccurate. "It has been my utmost priority that we keep the full contribution to their healthcare plan during this pandemic," she said.

Crewmembers also blame CBS Television Distribution, claiming the network is not holding up the contracts it made with workers, focusing instead on advertising dollars, BuzzFeed said.

“They’re a giant corporation and this is a multibillion-dollar entertainment business,” one crew member told BuzzFeed. “CBS is getting their shows, they’re getting their advertising dollars, the production companies are making money, but they’re not paying us.”