A former producer on The Ellen Show has sensationally slammed the scandal-plagued talk show queen, just hours after she announced she would be quitting her show after 19 seasons.
Ellen DeGeneres today confirmed she is ending her long-running talk show after a brutal year of toxic workplace and bullying claims.
And in an explosive interview with Australian TV show Sunrise hosts Nat Barr and David Koch this morning, former Ellen Show producer Hedda Muskat didn't mince words about her former boss, saying that the show's demise has come because viewers had finally "woken up" to Ellen's true nature.
Muskat explained that she was one of the show's first hires in 2003, brought on to book Ellen's non-celebrity, "human interest" guests. She claimed that although Ellen "loved kissing ass with celebrities", she "despised" the non-famous guests Muskat would procure for the show.
"She really was not in a position to interview real people because she really couldn't carry a conversation with them," she said.
"This is not 'bah humbug' on my end, because I just did my job and went home, but I feel that for the guests it was bad goodwill for them. They just really were not able to connect with her."
DeGeneres will sit down with fellow talk show titan Oprah Winfrey on tomorrow's episode of The Ellen Show to discuss her decision to quit – a move which Muskat also slammed.
"I am very disappointed that Oprah is lowering herself to interview Ellen," she told the hosts.
"Oprah can interview kings and queens, I love Oprah … and for her to interview Ellen is like, why? Who cares about Ellen anymore?"
Noting that her remarks about her former employer were "pretty scathing", Koch and Barr asked Muskat what she thought DeGeneres would do next. The star has insisted this will not be the end of her TV career – but Muskat had other ideas.
"I'd like to see her work on a farm where she can relate with all of the animals and the pets and the dogs and the cows and the pigs because if you can relate to animals far more than she does with people," she said, prompting shocked laughter from the Sunrise hosts.
"I was not able to have any connection with her, make any eye contact, and here is the thing: It's not just me or three of us, there were over 100 employees over the 19 years that walk 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 a whole new dawn. I don't feel like she has the trust anymore of the viewers, and so I don't think she is going to come back anytime soon."
After the interview, the hosts noted that Muskat, who has appeared on Sunrise in the past to discuss her former boss, had been more muted in previous appearances: "She was not holding back. She went for it then," said Barr.
DeGeneres, whose reputation has copped a beating in the past 12 months because of toxic workplace allegations, has hosted The Ellen Show since 2003 and has since led more than 3000 episodes.
Despite a horror 18 months in which her reputation has taken a battering, the star said her reasoning for quitting was because it was "just not a challenge anymore".
"When you're a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged. And as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore," DeGeneres told the Hollywood Reporter.
text by Nick Bond, news.com.au
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