Ellen Degeneres May Have Foreshadowed Her ‘Ellen Show’ Downfall Back in 2018
While Ellen DeGeneres attempts to reconcile the inner workings of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, some referenced the comedian’s own words. In 2018, DeGeneres all but admitted she couldn’t keep up with the “Queen of Nice” title forever.
Ellen DeGeneres isn’t the first talk show host to crash and burn
It’s been a shocking turn of events for DeGeneres as of late. The talk show host advocates kindness on a daily basis. She totes the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and over three dozen Emmys for The Ellen Show.
BuzzFeed News, along with a Twitter thread targeted DeGeneres and the show, questioning who she is outside of daytime TV.
Other hosts to lose their once popular spots on TV include Rosie O’Donnell, Kathy Griffin, and Chelsea Handler.
O’Donnell wasn’t the polarizing figure some see her as today. When she hosted The Rosie O’Donnell Show, her trademark bubbly personality and “niceness” became synonymous with O’Donnell’s brand. By the time she joined The View, her more controversial take proved a hard sell on the once devoted fans.
Chelsea Handler’s show on E!, Chelsea Lately, was canceled after two seasons due to problematic content. Kathy Griffin was famously outed from her reality show, Life On the D-List after posting a graphic and disturbing photo of the president in 2017.
Neither Handler nor Griffin are held to the same “nice” standard as O’Donnell once was — and where DeGeneres is now — but all comedians lost something amid controversy.
Degeneres’s 2018 comments suggest her downfall was inevitable
In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, DeGeneres admitted to feeling the pressure of maintaining an image for the spotlight. She felt so “confined” by it, the talk show host used profanity in her Netflix special, Relatable, as an act of rebellion.
While the move shocked fans, those who know DeGeneres in real life weren’t surprised.
“Ellen’s a real person with a foul mouth,” comedian Tig Notoro said of her friend. “Being trapped in the world of being asked to dance and expected to be nice, it’s real,” Notaro said. “I’m sure there’s people who think she’s kidding. Or can’t have a bad day. But she does. It’s an interesting pickle she’s in.”
Later in the interview, DeGeneres said the talk show doesn’t give the full story of who she is.
“The talk show is me, but I’m also playing a character of a talk-show host. There’s a tiny, tiny bit of difference,” she said.
Wife, Portia de Rossi concurred adding that DeGeneres is a complicated person with “more range of emotion” than what she depicts on the show.
If The Ellen Show is a facade with DeGeneres playing a type of personality for ratings, why are we surprised by accounts of her alleged backstage behavior?
Can DeGeneres recover from the bad press and save her brand?
While DeGeneres and executives do damage control, some can’t help but wonder if anything can help rebuild trust into her “be kind to one another” brand.
Though apologies, firings, and tweaks to employee benefits have happened over the last few weeks, it could have little to no impact in the faith of the show, or DeGeneres.
Reputation Management consultant, Eric Schiffer, told News.com.au that DeGeneres should issue another apology. He said the first lacked personal responsibility for what goes on at The Ellen Show.
“Her first ‘apology’ was wretchedly weak, lacked total truth and responsibility and pointed the finger at her staff,” he said. “It came off as one more celebrity elite escaping accountability, not to mention, it was far overdue.”
He also thinks DeGeneres should step out of the spotlight to think about how to best be true and authentic for season 18 of the talk show. It remains to be seen how DeGeneres will proceed moving forward. The premiere will likely have a different feel, hopefully, without the need for DeGeneres to “play a character.”
