Ellen DeGeneres didn’t quit on her own terms, producer claims: ‘She was fired by the viewers’
Ellen DeGeneres at the 2020 Grammy Awards. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty)
A former producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show has said she doesn’t believe the talkshow host is walking away on her own terms, suggesting she was fired by her own viewers.
Hedda Muskat eviscerated DeGeneres during an appearance on Australian Channel 7’s Sunrise morning programme, saying the host’s decision to quit after 19 years was “not a shock at all”.
Muskat – who was among the first people hired on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2003 – said that the viewers “have spoken”.
“Her ratings have been in the toilet for a long, long time now. Her show has not been fun, it has not been interesting, and she’s not really, by the way, stepping down. The viewers fired her,” Muskat said.
The producer, who booked human interest guests during her stint on DeGeneres’ show, said viewers were “disappointed in the phoniness that she’s been projecting as this nice person”.
“The viewers feel duped in a way that she’s not this nice person, and the viewers are not going to put up with the backstage racism that goes on, and the backstage bullying that goes on. So I think the viewers have woken up finally.”
DeGeneres will sit down with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday’s episode (13 May) to discuss her decision to call it quits – but Muskat isn’t impressed at the decision.
I don’t feel that she has the trust anymore of the viewers and so I don’t think she’s going to come back anytime soon.
“Frankly I’m very disappointed that Oprah is lowering herself to interview Ellen. I mean Oprah can interview kings and queens, and I love Oprah, I miss Oprah, and for her to interview Ellen, it’s like, ‘Why? Who cares about Ellen anymore?’
When asked what DeGeneres might do next after leaving her talkshow behind, Muskat said she hopes she will opt to work on a farm “because she can relate to animals far more than she does with people.”
Muskat said: “I was not able to have any connection with her, make eye contact, and here’s the thing – it’s not just me or three of us. There were over 100 employees over the 19 years that walked away with this sickened feeling about working there.
“As much as I loved my job as a booker and producer, I was almost relieved when I got fired because it was like, ‘I want to take a shower.’ It was like a whole new dawn.
“I don’t feel that she has the trust anymore of the viewers and so I don’t think she’s going to come back anytime soon.”
PinkNews contacted Elle DeGeneres for comment.
