As the issues on the production of Ellen DeGeneres’ long-running daytime talk show Ellen—which now include sexual misconduct claims against multiple senior producers, in addition to previous reports about the show’s “toxic” work environment—become topics of increasing public conversation, it was probably only a matter of time until the celebrities who so frequently pass through the show’s brightly lit set would voice their opinions on the topic. Especially after DeGeneres herself issued her first public statement on these accusations earlier this week, one that painted any problems on the show’s set as the product of her delegating too much to producers and being out of the loop on problems, with DeGeneres stating that she’s “not been able to stay on top of everything.”
Said statement provoked a response from at least one frequent former guest: Actor and comedian Brad Garrett, who tweeted out that it was “common knowledge” that the staff on the series was “treated horribly” by DeGeneres specifically, and that the problems on the show all come “from the top.”
According to IMDB, Garrett has appeared on the show six times, all back in the mid-2000s. Actress Lea Thompson (who’s never been on Ellen, as far as we can tell) backed up Garrett’s statement with a straightforward “True story. It is.” All of which is in line with rumors that have circulated around DeGeneres for years—and which Buzzfeed’s reporting on the show’s working conditions have notably avoided, emphasizing institutional defects in the series’ DNA as opposed to individual anecdotes of alleged workplace cruelty.
It remains to be seen whether these responses will begin appearing from more of Ellen’s frequent guests, or how “common knowledge” will translate into real-world action; Warner Bros. has stated that it’s pursuing “staffing changes” on the series, presumably focused on at least some of the producers who’ve been named in the reports.