Former Ellen DeGeneres Show Employees Come Forward About Sexual Misconduct Executive Producers
Following the news of an internal investigation into racism and bullying, former Ellen DeGeneres Show staffers have now come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct among the show’s top executives!
RELATED: Ellen DeGeneres Breaks Silence Amid Investigation Into Misconduct With Show Staff
According to a new report by BuzzFeed News, which broke the original story about the “toxic work environment” on Ellen’s set, a total of 36 former employees have opened up about multiple disturbing instances of harassment. Former staffers say executives who work behind the scenes have engaged in sexual misconduct with employees including one who asked for a hand job and oral sex.
The news outlet reported that the employees — most of who left the show voluntarily, did not want to be identified amid fears of retribution. However, they were eager to get their stories out. Among the people named in the allegations is writer and executive producer Kevin Leman. One former employee of the daytime show accused Leman of soliciting oral sex at a company party in 2013, while another ex-staffer claimed to have seen the moment the exec grab a production assistant’s penis on a different occasion. Another staff member added that they saw Leman grope a production assistant and kiss his neck while in a car.
To make matters worse, several employees
stated that Leman was known for making distasteful and sexual jokes in the office, and allegedly often asked his male colleagues: “Are you a top or a bottom?” A former employee said: “It’s masked in sarcasm, but it’s not sarcasm.”
In a statement released to the outlet on Thursday, Leman denied these heavy allegations:
“I started at the Ellen Show as a PA more than 17 years ago and have devoted my career to work my way to the position I now hold. While my job as head writer is to come up with jokes — and, during that process, we can occasionally push the envelope — I’m horrified that some of my attempts at humor may have caused offense,” he said. “I have always aimed to treat everyone on the staff with kindness, inclusivity and respect. In my whole time on the show, to my knowledge, I’ve never had a single HR or inter-personal complaint made about me, and I am devastated beyond belief that this kind of malicious and misleading article could be published.”
Executive producer Jonathan Norman as well as Ed Glavin, is now all facing accusations of sexual misconduct in addition to the other complaints, according to the site. While DeGeneres has been in the middle of all the claims of poor and “cold” behavior herself, multiple ex-staff members noted that she may not be aware of the sexual misconduct. The 62-year-old talk show host has not publicy spoke out on these latest allegations.
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