Yahoo News ‘Ellen DeGeneres is one of the dopest people’: Kevin Hart defends TV host from claims she’s ‘horrible’ behind-the-scenes
Kevin Hart has defended Ellen DeGeneres from “mean” accusations, calling her “one of the dopest people on the f***ing planet”.
In recent months, it has been claimed that the US host exhibits “mean” behaviour to others, which actors Brad Garrett and Back to the Future star Lea Thompson claimed was “common knowledge” in Hollywood.
DeGeneres’s US talk show is also undergoing an internal investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct on the show’s set, as well as workplace bullying.
While DeGeneres herself has not been personally accused of mistreating staff, she said in a statement that, as the face of the show, she took “full responsibility” for the situation.
Hart called the situation “crazy”, writing on Instagram: “She has treated my family and my team with love and respect from day one.”
The actor criticised the internet for becoming “a crazy world of negativity”, adding: “We are falling in love with people’s downfall. It’s honestly sad...When did we get here?”
He acknowledged that, while others may have had negative experiences with the host, he has nothing but good things to say about her.
“This post is not meant to disregard the feelings of others and their experiences,” he wrote. “It’s simply to show what my experiences have been with my friend. Love you for life, Ellen.”
In January 2019, DeGeneres, 62 jumped to the defence of Hart after a series of homophobic remarks he previously made between 2009 and 2011 resurfaced online.
A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Aug 4, 2020 at 9:48am PDT
After initially refusing to apologise, claiming that he had “addressed this several time” already, Hart was dropped from hosting the 2019 Oscars ceremony, but DeGeneres soon called for Hart to be reinstated
Writing on Twitter following the controversy, she wrote: “I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in Kevin Hart.”
Earlier this year, DeGeneres found herself at the centre of several accusations of “mean” behaviour after comedian Kevin T Porter pledged to donate $2 to a Los Angeles food bank for every “insane story” his Twitter followers tweeted to him about her.
He branded DeGeneres “notoriously one of the meanest people alive”.
One story claimed that DeGeneres would send her staff home if they had failed to chew gum before speaking to her.
The investigation was sparked after a number of ex-staff members shared anonymous accounts of their negative experiences working on the series.
Ten former crew members initially came forward to make allegations of mistreatment by producers and other staff members, which were published in a Buzzfeed News report.
Many of the accusers claimed that the show’s production environment was “dominated by fear”, and claimed that employees who did not complain about work hours or microaggressions were rewarded.
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