Howard Stern Thinks Ellen DeGeneres Should Change Her ‘Whole Image’ Amid Workplace Misconduct Claims
Now, there’s an idea! Howard Stern gave Ellen DeGeneres some pretty sound advice after accusations surfaced of workplace misconduct behind-the-scenes at The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“You know what I’d do if I was Ellen?” Stern, 66, asked on his SiriusXM radio show on Monday, August 10. “I would change my whole image. I’d go on the air and be a son of a bitch … people would come on and (I would) go, ‘F–k you.’ Just be a prick.”
Although Stern wasn’t totally serious, he admitted he’s socialized with the Finding Nemo alum, 62, a number of times, and found her to be very pleasant. That being said, he made it clear he has no idea what it’s like to work for her. He went on to advise DeGeneres to work things out with her staff, but suggested she try out a new persona. “So you think I’m a prick? I’m going to show you exactly,” Stern reiterated.
The shock jock is just one of the many celebrities who have spoken out after DeGeneres and her producers were accused of workplace misconduct in a July 19 Buzzfeed News article. The exposé details the experiences of several former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show who claimed they felt fearful while working on set and some even encountered acts of racism. Although they explained the “toxic” work environment was perpetuated by high-ranking employees and not DeGeneres herself, they said she is ultimately to blame.
Shortly after the article was published, Variety confirmed that WarnerMedia launched an investigation into the claims. On July 30, DeGeneres broke her silence and addressed the allegations in a letter to her staff, promising to ensure “this does not happen again” in the memo obtained by Us Weekly.
DeGeneres and her staff are planning to head back to work sooner than later after they held a staff meeting on August 3, an insider told Us. “They said a lot of [the claims are] true and a lot of it is not true. They said we are handling everything [and] things will be very different now,” the source recalled of their briefing. “A show that brings so much happiness and fun, it should be a happy show to work on. It was a pep talk and made some staffers feel better.”
Despite all the recent controversy, DeGeneres’ wife, Portia de Rossi, is “appalled by the allegations” and is “standing by” her, a source exclusively told In Touch. “She believes Ellen’s side of things.”
Once DeGeneres returns to the small screen, maybe she will take Stern’s advice and embrace her alter ego.
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