Dozens of employees come forward alleging sexual misconduct on The Ellen Show

Just hours after Ellen’s apology letter, her show has been hit with a slew of sexual misconduct allegations as dozens of employees come forward.

Dozens of employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show have come forward in a new bombshell report, alleging sexual harassment and misconduct by some of the show’s top executive producers.

Many of the allegations centre upon head writer and executive producer Keith Leman, who has been accused of groping and propositioning male staff members.

Others allege they were inappropriately touched by producer Ed Glavin, who is reportedly parting ways with The Ellen Show.

“Even though I was being abused [at work] constantly, Ed putting his arm around you in the control room was like the nicest experience you had all day, as messed up as that sounds,” one female former employee said.

Co-executive producer Jonathan Norman was accused of attempting to perform oral sex on one male employee, an allegation Norman is “100 per cent categorically denying.” The other producers named have not yet responded to the allegations.

The allegations come hours after Ellen issued an apology to her staff. Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP

In total, Buzzfeed spoke to 47 current and former The Ellen Show employees, with these disturbing new allegations adding to the claims made in an earlier Buzzfeed report published two weeks ago.

This new report comes just hours after Ellen broke her silence about the mounting allegations surrounding her show in an apology letter to staff that was also published inThe Hollywood Reporter.

Ellen’s language in the letter suggests she wasn’t fully aware of the alleged workplace culture at the talk show she’s hosted for more than 2700 episodes over the past 17 years. She opens by saying she wanted the show to be a “place of happiness” and is “disappointed to learn that this has not been the case”.

“As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again,” she says.

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“I’m also learning that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop.”

But today, many on social media have accused Ellen of passing the buck and deflecting responsibility onto others.

Employees speaking anonymously in today’s Buzzfeed report expressed disbelief that DeGeneres could’ve been unaware of what was allegedly going on.

“She knows,” one former employee said. “She knows sh*t goes on, but also she doesn’t want to hear it.” However, other former workers said they doubted DeGeneres would have been aware as top staff “insulate” her from what happens on set.

Variety reported this week that The Ellen DeGeneres Show “has become the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia” following the reports of workplace issues on the series.

Executives reportedly sent a memo to staff last week saying they have engaged an employee relations group and a third party firm, “who will interview current and former staffers about their experiences on set,” said Variety.

Buzzfeed’s earlier report collated stories from 10 former and one current Ellen employee – all speaking anonymously – who had described a “toxic work environment” with a culture of “racism, fear and intimidation”.

“That ‘be kind’ bulls**t only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show,” one former employee is quoted as saying.