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Amid Season 18 of her long-running talk show, it appears that Ellen DeGeneres is trying to turn over a new leaf. Over the past several months, The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been riddled with accusations of toxicity and bad behavior by producers, and DeGeneres herself.

DeGeneres has apologized for not living up to her “kind” persona, and now it appears that she’s also changing up her look. She recently debuted a new hairstyle that is making headlines.

Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres | Mike Rozman/Warner Brothers//NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Ellen DeGeneres’ show was exposed as a toxic work environment

Since DeGeneres has built her brand on kindness, it was especially disheartening to learn that behind the scenes, bullying, racism, nasty attitudes, and everything else were running amuck.

“They pull on people’s heartstrings; they do know that’s going to get likes and what people are going to go for, which is a positive message, but that’s not always reality,” a former employee told BuzzFeed News.

After more people began coming forward, DeGeneres finally addressed the issues, first in a statement, and then again during the season premiere of her show.

“I learned that things happened here that never should have happened,” she said. “I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”

Ellen DeGeneres’ ratings have continued to drop

Though DeGeneres has apologized for the things that have occurred on the set of her show and her own bahevior, The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s ratings have continued to fall.

Amid the pandemic, talk show ratings are down across the board. However, when DeGeneres returned for Season 18, her ratings had dropped by 38% from last year.

According to USA Today, the average viewership for the talk show is way down from 2.67 million to 1.66 million. It seems like people tuned in for the season premiere to see how DeGeneres would handle and address the media firestorm. This made the premiere the highest-rated since 2016. However, it did not retain viewers in the long run.

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Ellen DeGeneres just debuted a new hairstyle that may have a secret message

As DeGeneres struggles to rebuild and rebrand, she’s also debuted a new look. For years, fans have been used to seeing the talk show host with her slick blond close-cropped pixie cut. Now, her new look appears to be giving a nod to the ’50s and perhaps to her wife, Portia de Rossi.

The slicked back pompadour that DeGeneres is currently rocking might signal a fresh start for the comedian. Fans noticed the new look earlier this week when new episodes of her talk show debuted. However, DeGeneres hopped on Instagram to share a close-up look of the hairstyle.

de Rossi has worn a similar style for years, so perhaps DeGeneres wanted to try it out for herself. Other fans believe that DeGeneres is officially trying for a fresh start after so many months of controversy and tumbling show ratings.