Yahoo News Ellen DeGeneres Announces End of Talk Show: 'It's Not a Challenge Anymore'
Ellen DeGeneres announced Wednesday that her eponymous daytime talk show will end with its upcoming 19th season.
“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 our sister pub The Hollywood Reporter. The final episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show is slated to air in Spring 2022. (The news was first reported by Daily Mail.)
More from TVLine
DeGeneres will discuss her decision to call it quits on Thursday’s Ellen DeGeneres Show. Oprah Winfrey will lead the chat.
The end-date development comes in the wake of a tumultuous year for DeGeneres’ talk show, which was mired in a behind-the-scenes controversy involving widespread accusations of a toxic workplace. DeGeneres acknowledged the scandal in the show’s Season 18 premiere last fall.
“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 that were affected,” DeGeneres began, echoing a previous letter she sent to her crew after the allegations surfaced. “I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show. This is The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I am Ellen DeGeneres.”
Last summer, a series of bombshell reports from Variety and BuzzFeed brought the show’s workplace culture to light, with former employees citing everything from racist comments made by senior producers to staffers getting fired for taking time off to attend family funerals. The show ultimately fired executive producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman, all of whom were named in the allegations.
DeGeneres tells THR, however, that the controversy — which has dented the show’s once rock-solid ratings — was not the driving force behind the decision. “If I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season,” she maintains. “So, it’s not why I’m stopping.”
Best of TVLine
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
