A former producer of Australia’s “Today” show claimed Ellen DeGeneres’ executive producers had multiple strange demands.
Neil Breen recalled the demands during an interview published Wednesday by 4BC Radio.
Ellen DeGeneres’ staff ‘ordered TV exec not to look at or speak to’ @TheEllenShow host https://t.co/Msc9ujWUGV
— The US Sun (@TheSunUS) July 30, 2020
“[Ellen DeGeneres’] producers called us aside … and said, ‘Now, Neil, no one is to talk to Ellen. You don’t talk to her, you don’t approach her, you don’t look at her,'” Breen recalled.
“‘She’ll come in, she’ll sit down, she’ll talk to Richard and then Ellen will leave.’ And I sort of said, ‘I can’t look at her?’ I found the whole thing bizarre,” he said.
Breen claimed he has no idea what DeGeneres’ personality is like because he “never got to talk to her.” (RELATED: REPORT: Toxic Workplace Claims Could Be ‘An Apocalyptic Ending’ To Ellen DeGeneres’ TV Career)
“I have no idea whether she’s a nice person or not, I wouldn’t have a clue,” Breen said. “But I can tell you the people who worked with her walked on eggshells the whole time, and the whole thing was totally bizarre.”
“We’re there to do an interview to promote what she’s doing, but you can’t look at her?” he continued. “Someone get real.”
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is under internal investigation by Warner Media, following allegations of racism, workplace intimidation and other mistreatment made by employees.https://t.co/2PZnwHzdhO
— NPR (@NPR) July 28, 2020
Breen’s comments come after WarnerMedia opened an internal investigation into toxic workplace claims made against “The Ellen Show” production team. The team has been accused of racism among other allegations.