Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show won a People’s Choice Award on Sunday despite being involved in a toxic workplace scandal earlier this year.
A handful of current and former employees went public with allegations that the set of The Ellen DeGeneres Show was a “toxic” environment of misconduct, bad behaviour, and harassment in a BuzzFeed expose over the summer.
The scandal prompted Ellen to apologise to her staff and promise conditions would get better, while three producers on the show were fired following an investigation.
Despite the controversy, Ellen’s programme took home the Daytime Talk Show of 2020 gong at Sunday night’s ceremony, with the 62-year-old making sure to thank her crew as she accepted the prize.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, from deep, deep down in my heart. I thank you,” she said. “I am not only accepting this award for myself but on behalf of my amazing crew and staff who make the show possible they show up every single day, give 100 per cent of themselves, 100 per cent of the time.
“I love them all… I thank them for what they do every single day to help the show be the best that we try to make it every single day.”
Ellen also took the opportunity to thank her fans for supporting her throughout the scandal.
“I know (where) this award comes from – thank you to the people,” she continued. “Thanks for all of my fans for supporting me and sticking by me, I can’t tell you how grateful I am and what this means to mean, it’s more than I could possibly tell you, especially now.”