Adam Carolla Revives Ellen DeGeneres Bullying Claims
Kai Montgomery here, reluctantly deciphering yet another Hollywood spat with my usual eye roll. You knew it was coming: comedian Adam Carolla has stirred the pot again by labeling Ellen DeGeneres a “mean person” and painting her former staff as terrified under her reign.
This time around, Carolla spilled the tea on his 2012 turn as a guest on DeGeneres’ daytime talk show. He described a cranky producer who nervously instructed him not to bring up “meat or beef,” then returned moments later to repeat the warning. Carolla’s takeaway? He figured the segment producer was “scared to death” of his host. That fear, he argues, is proof that Ellen ruled with an iron fist rather than her trademark humor.
Carolla did not stop there. He said an anonymous writer, who had signed a nondisclosure agreement, privately told him that DeGeneres was the worst boss he had ever encountered—outclassing even Rosie O’Donnell, whom he had previously worked for. According to Carolla, that staffer ranted, “Worst person I’ve ever met,” when asked about Ellen. Again, Carolla pointed to cowering crew members as evidence that the daytime queen was far from friendly behind the scenes.
These fresh accusations arrive years after a 2020 BuzzFeed News exposé in which current and former crew spoke up anonymously about a toxic workplace on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In response, Ellen publicly apologized, and producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman, and Jonathan Norman exited the production. The show eventually wrapped up in 2022 amid the controversy, leaving viewers and staff to wonder how such a bright, feel-good brand could harbor so much negativity off camera.
Since concluding her long-running series, DeGeneres relocated to the United Kingdom with her wife, Portia de Rossi. In a 2023 stand-up special, she claimed she was “kicked out of show business” and joked that she became “the most hated person in America.” Yet despite that attempt at humor, the stigma of a cruel boss lingers, thanks not only to Carolla but also to other celebrities like Margaret Cho and Ali Fedotowsky, who have shared tales of Ellen’s alleged unkind behavior.
Look, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but decades of goodwill and heartwarming moments get overshadowed when multiple insiders paint a picture of fear and intimidation. Ellen may never be mean to A-list guests, but if her own staff was shaking in their shoes, that speaks volumes. Audiences deserve to know if their daytime darling’s sunny persona masks a storm cloud off-air.
And that, dear reader, is why we can not have nice things.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post, BuzzFeed News, After Party with Emily Dashinsky
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
