We’re finally starting to see the longterm effects of Ellen’s summer of scandal last year, and things are not looking good for the once-beloved daytime talk show host.
Despite scoring her highest rated season opener in four year last September, when everyone tuned in to see her apology following accusations of bullying and creating a toxic workplace, The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been bleeding viewers ever since.
Related: Well, the reviews are in and nobody seems to be buying Ellen’s on-air apology
According to data from Nielsen, Ellen’s show has lost over 1 million viewers since the 18th season premiere, plummeting from 2.6 million to 1.5 million.
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The New York Times reports:
The show’s loss of more than a million viewers translates to a 43 percent decline, representing a steeper drop than any of its competitors. This TV season, ‘Ellen,’ the winner of dozens of Emmys since its start in 2003, is no longer in the same league as traditional rivals like ‘Dr. Phil’ (3.1 million) and ‘Live: With Kelly and Ryan’ (2.7 million). Now it finds itself uncomfortably close to shows hosted by Maury Povich (1.4 million), Kelly Clarkson (1.3 million), Rachael Ray (1.2 million), Tamron Hall (1.1 million) and Jerry Springer’s former security guard Steve Wilkos (1.1 million).
To go from reigning daytime talk show queen to competing with Jerry Springer’s ex-bodyguard for viewers in less than one year has definitely gotta hurt.
Of course, less viewers also means less revenue. From September to January of the 2019-20 season, Ellen raked in a cool $131 million in advertising dollars. During that same time period of the 2020-21 season, the show saw a decline of $26 million, bringing in $105 million.
Related: Rosie O’Donnell breaks her silence on the ongoing Ellen drama
But it’s not just Ellen’s daytime talk show that has taken a hit. She also hosts NBC’s prime-time Ellen’s Game of Games, which has seen a 32 percent decrease in viewership this season.
Rumors that Ellen, who is estimated to be worth around $370 million, is considering stepping away from her once-hit daytime talk show to focus on other projects have been circulating for a while now.
In 2019, she inked a deal with HBO Max to produce four shows for the streaming platform. That’s in addition to a multi-year deal she has with Discovery to produce natural history documentaries and series.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Cam
The Hollywood P.R. machine’s attempts to troll websites with comments saying that those employees were all whiners and babys didn’t help.
Too many people have had crappy bosses that this story spoke to them and they didn’t want to support her.
Her defending George Bush and people who’ve made anti-LGBTQ comments probably was a huge reason why the LGBTQ community didn’t seem to jump to her defense either. She sided with Bush, so, let him defend her.
Kieran
I can’t believe 1.5 million people are actually watching the Ellen Degeneres Show. Surely. there can’t be that many masochists in America. Ellen is as funny as a toothache.
Troyfight
@Cam …. “Too many people have had crappy bosses that this story spoke to them and they didn’t want to support her.” ….that is a strong, discerning comment. Admittedly, I’m probably guilty as well, and didn’t really think about it, honestly. Yikes on me.
TamaraChing
She is damaged and she is toxic.
Enough said. She is not a good role model for host nor for the LGBT communities.
She can retired with the millions she made. I will not tune in to anything connected to her whatsoever.
Prowelsh56
Once the Darling of the LGBTQ community, to some at least.
I think she clearly shows a sadistic streak with the game(?) show but honestly, does her opinion matter anymore than anyone in the LGBTQ community doing hands on work. Philanthropy can be interpreted so many ways… $$$$ or action.
CMarks
I stopped watching because I thought her games and “pranks” too often had a mean and ugly side from which she seemed to get far too much enjoyment. I just don’t find any pleasure in laughing at people’s accidents and/or misfortune.
amanwithanedge
focus on the real issues here. voting rights.
khloeknievel
I was hoping this story would evolve into a discussion about how many aspects of America’s work culture are toxic but people only seem to care if a celebrity is involved.
whatabesson
Good. I use to like her and thought she was such a sweet person, but I too have heard for years that she is nasty and just mean behind the scenes. I stopped watching her show for good after it all came out.
jsmu
Yep. Megab*tch, never funny even by accident, and deserves all the bad press and more. My ex worked in the industry–she’s on every top five most hated list.
gregg2010
Even before the scandal, I always thought her game show and some of the things she put participants through on her talk show boarded on the sadistic. It just wasn’t funny to watch; rather, it was cruel. So Ellen will step away to “focus on other projects” as her ratings sink.
Fahd
I first heard rumors about Ellen’s “style” when she had that sitcom where she owned a bookstore and had a terrifically funny supporting cast, all of whose further career development she hurt, rather than helped. Her publicists shifted blame and kept things quiet for so so long, but karma. I haven’t watched her on anything in years. Now, I always think less of celebrities when I hear that they are pretend friends with her. If she did not do a single thing more to entertain us all, I would think it were the right thing to do.
Caddy4J
Time for her to go, she’s made tons of money off the networks and advertisers, And vice a versa, and she doesn’t even like people. I’m surprise she lasted this long. Stopped watching her phony ass years ago.
James26
The allegations against her were a mish-mash of trivial complaints (“She didn’t visit me in the green room!” “She didn’t chat during the commercial breaks!”) and matters that did not implicate her personally, such as the misbehavior of a few producers. There were just a few allegations of rude behavior by her personally, but none was ever corroborated. She fired the misbehaving producers and fixed the reporting system for harassment. I’m not sure what more she is supposed to do. The desire to see her fail seems to come out of malice and envy.
RyanMBecker
Trivial complaints? Perhaps if you are Jerry Springer or Maury Povich. But her brand was “be nice,” as demonstrated by her holier-than-thou defense of her friendship with George Bush. So when testimonials surface, en masse, about her being rude and a petty entitled b*tch, it smacks of hypocrisy. For example, a server accused Ellen of complaining to management about her bad nails, leading to her firing. Whether that’s true, an exaggeration or a complete lie, I don’t know. But such a scenario is hardly “trivial.”
And as others point out, her stunts border on sadism, with her as puppet master making a fool of some unsuspecting victim on hidden camera. Indeed, the “humor” often involves jump scares, or stressing out victims. Watch her interview with tennis phenom, Naomi Osaka. Or her Halloween haunted house stunt with Chrissy Teigen and her mom. So much for “be nice.”
As for responsibility, I personally know someone who worked on the show. She said that Ellen was cold and dismissive of staff concerns, accusing them of being entitled and whiney. As such, the blame is not the “few producers,” but Ellen herself.
What corroborative evidence do you want — hidden camera footage? What does it tell you when there is such sustained and varied complaints against her? If you are suggesting a conspiracy, who is behind it, and why now? You claim that there is no corroboration, but you ignore that there is no defense from insiders either, vouching for her character, or otherwise refuting the allegations. What does that tell you?
What more can she do? How about step down, like any CEO who’s has lost staff or consumer confidence? Her ratings prove the latter. Her refusal to do so just reinforces the accusations of a huge ego and blindness to the concerns of others. A less egomaniacal leader would rebrand the show (with a different name, of course), just like Carson and Letterman did. But to Ellen, it’s all about her. And being nice only means being nice to her.
Cam
Annnnnd of COURSE one of the right wing troll accounts screenames is here to defend the woman who defends George Bush.
The problem is, you’re lying. The complaints against her were about a truly toxic work environment, abusive behavior to people who weren’t even her employees, firing people for getting pregnant, etc.
But the fact that you’re defending her shows the rest of us we’re all on the right track.
James26
@RyanMBecker – The supposed incident with the waitress was one of the very few allegations of non-trivial rudeness that I referenced above. There were perhaps another 2 allegations that fall into this category, i.e,, rude behavior which is more than trivial but not criminal or illegal. The bottom line is that she categorically denies that this ever happened and there is no evidence that it ever did. I’m not inclined to condemn her over 2 or 3 unproven allegations of rudeness.
No one other than the hyper-sensitive weirdos on this site has ever claimed that her pranks on the show are “toxic.” Those pranks have been seen by tens of millions of people for the past 17 years, so if they were toxic, we would have had a negative audience reaction long before 2020. We would have also heard from the “victims.” Of course, no one ever reacted negatively over all these years b/c they are all in good fun, often done with the knowledge of the celebrity “victim” (who are usually Ellen’s personal friends).
That leaves only the allegations that she was “cold” or “dismissive” on this or that occasion. These are probably true, but so what? The show is not a cafe. It’s a high-paced, extremely busy, frenetic workplace where everyone operates on a strict timetable. She is the executive of the whole circus, so yes, there will be times when she can’t smile and chat and there will be times when she has to say “Do it this way. End of discussion.” That’s true of any workplace. If you think that it’s different on Rachel Ray or Oprah or Dr. Phil or any other talk show, I have a bridge I can sell you.
Fahd
It’s a free country. Anyone is free to watch her shows (while she’s still on). I won’t be a viewer and the ratings suggest it’s more than just the tempest in a teapot that you want it to be. I’m sure she has many “crisis managers” working on this, but she is who she is, and I think where there’s smoke…if it walks like a duck, etc….
mastik8
The moment the public heard, “I learned that things happen here that never should have happened.” we knew we were listening to a non-apology apology.
Cam
America for decades now has mistreated employees, and the excuse has always been the lie that anybody who complains is a whiner.
What really happened is that Republicans for ages have tried to destroy unions and Democrats didn’t fight back hard enough, so it got to the point where people like Harvey Winestein and Matt Lauer could do whatever they wanted and the corporate H.R. departments helped them.
Hopefully things are changing. Nobody should have to put up with abuse simply to put food on the table.
ScottOnEarth
I think it’s the haircut.
ElPillo
Excelente. Go ahead and eat your own, Saturn