Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres to end talk show after 19 years

"As great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge any more," she told the Hollywood Reporter.

The announcement comes just months after the show faced accusations it was a toxic place to work.

It led to three senior producers losing their jobs and DeGeneres opening the current season with an on-air apology.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which has aired since September 2003, will come to an end in 2022 after its 19th season.

Ellen DeGeneres latest celebrity to test positive for Covid-19

The American comedian said on Twitter that all her close contacts had been notified.

"I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately, I'm feeling fine right now," she said in a Twitter posting.

DeGeneres, 62, host of the popular daytime show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, said she was following health guidelines and would return to her show after the holidays.

A representative said production of the show had been halted until January.

Ellen DeGeneres: Three producers fired over 'toxic workplace' claims

Ms DeGeneres announced the overhaul in a video meeting with staff, and said an internal investigation was under way.

In a message to staff she said she was "so sorry for what this has become," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The departures follow investigations by journalists into claims of bullying and intimidation on set.

A spokesperson for Warner Brothers confirmed the show has "parted ways" with executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman, and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman.

Stars back Ellen amid 'toxic workplace' claims

However, the show's one-time resident DJ has said he "did experience and feel the toxicity of the environment".

It follows a Buzzfeed News story that claimed senior staff had bullied and intimidated others on set.

DeGeneres later apologised to staff, saying steps would be taken to "correct the issues" that had come to light.

One current and 10 former employees told Buzzfeed they had experienced racism and a workplace that was "dominated by fear".

Ellen DeGeneres slammed online for comparing isolation in her mansion to being in jail

The 62-year-old has been hosting her popular talk show from one of her California homes after it was taken off air due to the coronavirus pandemic.

DeGeneres has been keeping the show going to "take your mind off everything that's going on in the world".

"I always wanted to have this show as a distraction, as a break from whatever is going on out there that may be unpleasant. 

"If you're feeling down I want to lift you up, if you're feeling trapped I want to set you free and if you feel like you're going in the wrong direction, I want you to back that thing up."

Ellen DeGeneres defends George W Bush friendship

Republican Bush had opposed gay marriage while in office, which led some to criticise DeGeneres, an openly gay liberal, for befriending him.

On Monday, during a taping of her television show, DeGeneres said: "I'm friends with George Bush.

"I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs I have."

Bush, who served two terms as US president, has also faced condemnation for leading the country into war with Iraq and Afghanistan.

DeGeneres interviewed Bush on her chat show in 2017.

Ellen DeGeneres opens up about sexual abuse

DeGeneres said the abuse took place when she was 15 or 16, after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"He told me... he'd felt a lump in her breast and needed to feel my breasts," she told interviewer David Letterman.

DeGeneres first spoke about the abuse in 2005, but said she was now going into more detail "because I want other girls to not ever let someone do that".

Ellen DeGeneres fan builds own fake show

Lukas Jakobiak then went even further, hiring an entire crew and filming with an Ellen lookalike.

He did this hoping to get the star's attention and has started #LucasOnEllen.

The video of the project has had more than one million views since going online.

If you squint and stand about 20 metres back from your screen, you could almost think you were watching the real thing.

During the "show", he chats about meeting Lady Gaga and Anastacia and there's a slightly creepy moment where he shares a photo of himself posing next to a wax model of the talk-show host.

Ellen DeGeneres bans Kim Burrell after homophobic comments

Burrell referred to "the perverted homosexual spirit" during a sermon at a church in Houston, Texas.

She had been due to sing with Pharrell Williams on The Ellen DeGeneres Show later this week.

But the US talk show host, who is a well-known advocate of gay rights, tweeted: "For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show."

 

'No excuses'

Ellen lauded for gay rights influence as she receives highest US award

Celebrities including Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and Michael Jordan were also among the 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Barack Obama said it was easy to forget the risk Ellen De Generes took to come out as gay in 1997.

He said her bravery helped "push our country in the direction of justice".

"It's easy to forget now, when we've come so far... just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago," he said during the award ceremony at the White House.