Ellen's Accusers Do Not Accept Her On-Air "Apology"

Breaking her two-month silence, Ellen DeGeneres, talk show host and "be kind lady," responded to allegations of workplace misconduct, harassment and abuse in her season 18 monologue. However, the former employees accusing DeGeneres and the show's managers of abuse do not think the apology did the trick. According to BuzzFeed News, who originally published the allegations, those employees say that the jokes sprinkled throughout her speech melted away any chance of reconciliation by turning their experience into Ellen's problem.

Problems with the monologue started from the jump. In a joke leading into the apology, Ellen quipped, "How was everybody’s summer? Good, yeah? Mine was great. Super terrific." Her former employees saw this is as turning their trauma into a joke. "She somehow managed to make this about her," one former employee told BuzzFeed. Another remarked, "When she said, ‘Oh, my summer was great’ and that was supposed to be funny I thought, ‘It’s funny that you had a rough summer because everyone was calling out all of the allegations of your toxic work environment and now you’re the one suffering?’"

These allegations against DeGeneres fly in the face of her onscreen persona as the "Be Kind Lady." The accusations against her and the show's top managers on the show include racism, sexual misconduct and intimidation. A third-party investigation into the workplace culture took place and several executive and co-executive producers were fired.

But former employees found DeGeneres looking for sympathy in her apology, that she did not ask to become the "be kind lady." They said, "I don’t feel sorry that she’s in a shit load of trouble because she branded herself the ‘be kind’ person. "She’s acting like it was something she said in passing that just stuck with her. It’s not something that stuck with her, it’s not an accident. She went forward with this idea and this marketing strategy that was not true behind the scenes."

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

However, one employee says that the move was "tactical."

"The average person will listen to it and make their own choices," the employee told BuzzFeed, "but what people don’t always take into account is that information is power, and she’s sharing it now because it’s for premiere week and it’s to get viewers back, and that just feels the opposite of what this message is about."

Online, others analyzed her apology. YouTube body language expert Believing Bruce offered a reading of DeGeneres' apology, stating that she appears nervous and unsure of the apology in the moment.

On Twitter, others criticized the monologue, finding her words meaningless. Many compared her words to a YouTube apology or a Notes app apology, which they have become accustomed to in the past few years. At this point, they believe, it's a cliché that comes off insincere.

Some of her most loyal fans, however, continued to support DeGeneres, posting on Twitter, showing their appreciation for the talk show host.

“We Love You Ellen “A small group of Ellen DeGeneres' fans will gather today at WB to congrats her for #Ellen18 and show some love and support, in representation of the entire fanbase♥️ ( 1/ 4) (Video ; @audrieh_gomezah ) pic.twitter.com/XpfayzjVK3

— Ellen World (@EllenD_world) September 22, 2020