Inside the toxic bullying claims which led to Ellen DeGeneres’ downfall – and how they came to light a year after she revealed on her now-defunct talk show of sharing a touching family moment with Meghan

A year before Ellen DeGeneres’s spectacular fall from grace, prompted by bullying accusations, the TV personality bragged about her visit with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their then-newborn son Archie in London. 

Much like the Duchess of Sussex, the once-beloved talk show host has been plagued over the years by a litany of accusations calling her mean, toxic and difficult to work with. 

The claims came to light after former staff members, friends of ex-employees, as well as service staff who waited on her, came forward with their stories. 

Rumours included that staffers were told not speak to or even look at Ellen, required workers to chew gum before speaking to her because of her ‘sensitive nose’, and banned anyone from eating fish or meat.

Before the host’s supposed diva-like behaviour was exposed, Ellen revealed she knew Harry and Meghan, having visited them on a trip to London a few months after Prince Archie was born. 

Meghan is no stranger to unfavourable rumours as she’s been met with a litany of claims from Palace staff that she was demanding and had reduced people to tears, which the Duchess has since denied.

Dubbed ‘Duchess Difficult’, Meghan was said to have created a tense atmosphere when she started her life as a royal in 2018, sending emails at the crack of dawn and leaving workers ‘shaking with fear’.

Ellen was a frequent defender of the Sussexes, taking to social media to vouch for the ‘cute couple’. 

In 2019, on her since-defunct talk show, the host spoke about her encounter with the royal family while holidaying in London. 

Ellen and her wife, Portia de Rossi, took a break from sightseeing to visit Meghan, Harry and the then-three-month-old Archie. 

At the time, Harry and Meghan were living in Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, and were still official senior members of the Royal Family.

‘Here’s a sentence I thought I’d never say, but I spent the afternoon with Prince Harry and Meghan,’ she said in her opening monologue. 

‘I just want to say it was an honour for them to meet me,’ she joked before continuing: ‘I can’t tell you how sweet they are, but the most important thing is I got to hold Archie, little Archie. I fed Archie, I held Archie.

‘He weighs 15 pounds, which is, the exchange rate, $17 here. He looks like Harry – and he had more hair than I did at the time.’ 

The comedian joked about how she held the baby and teased the audience with a photo before revealing a crude sketch, much to the crowd’s amusement.  

Ellen then gushed about the parents calling them ‘amazing’, ‘the cutest couple’ and ‘so down to earth’.

She also took the opportunity to defend Harry and Meghan from their harshest critics and spoke about their conservation work.  

‘I hate it – I see them get attacked and it’s not fair. They are two of the most down-to-earth, compassionate people; they’re doing so much good for the world,’ she said.

‘Portia and I talked to them about all the conservation they are doing for wildlife.

‘They are doing all this work in Botswana for elephants, and I love that, and they like what I’m doing for the gorillas in Rwanda, so we’re gonna all do something together.’

Less than one year later, a single tweet marked the beginning of the popular personality’s fall from grace. 

In March 2020, comedian Kevin T Porter posted a tweet asking people for the ‘most insane stories you’ve heard about Ellen being mean,’ promising to donate $2 for every story. 

Users were quick to share their supposed encounters with the star, with the post drawing in 2,600 replies; however, it is not known how many, if any, are true. 

A waitress said she almost lost her job after serving Ellen, who complained about her chipped nail polish, while one woman claimed a friend got a job at the show and was instructed not to look her in the eye. 

Someone who worked at Warner Bros, where Ellen’s show was filmed, said the host sent someone out to demand a party celebrating a showrunner’s 50th birthday, to stop grilling steaks because she doesn’t eat meat. 

Hundreds more incidents were shared in the thread, with many adding some exaggerated, unbelievable-sounding claims, while others seemed credible yet remain unsubstantiated.  

Four months later, explosive claims came to light about Ellen and her upper team’s treatment of the show’s staff. 

Ten former employees came forward, accusing Ellen, as well as three executive producers, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, of ‘bullying’. The executive producers and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman were all fired from the programme following the accusations levelled against them.  

One accusation was made by a Black woman who claimed she suffered a number of ‘microaggressions,’ her request for a raise was ignored, and she was accused of ‘walking around looking resentful and angry’ after asking staff members to undergo diversity and inclusion training.

Another former employee alleged they were fired after taking medical leave for one month following a suicide attempt.

The employees said they did not have first-hand experience of DeGeneres being unpleasant, but said she needs to take more responsibility for how her employees are treated. It is not known how many of the issues Ellen was aware of at the time.

Ellen came out with an apology after it was announced that her show was subject to a probe by WarnerMedia, which looked into ‘staff experiences on set’. 

The host sent her staff a memo in which she wrote she was ‘taking steps… to correct’ issues with her employees. 

Fans were shocked by the revelations as Ellen had built a reputation on kindness, ending every episode of her talk show telling viewers ‘Remember, be kind’. 

However, some who have worked closely with the star say it’s all a facade.  

‘That “be kind’ bulls***” only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show,’ one anonymous staff member said. 

Separately, Tom Majercak – who was assigned to be Ellen’s bodyguard at the 2014 Oscars – said she was ‘sly’ and ‘demeaning’ to him.

‘Ellen is the one person that I’ve been assigned to, and I’ve been assigned to quite a few celebrities, that has never taken the time to say hi to me,’ he said.

‘She’s not the person she portrays to be that she’s playing off of society. That’s my opinion.’ 

In January of the same year, Meghan and Harry made shockwaves when they announced to the world that they were stepping back from their royal duties as representatives of the Queen and would be financially independent. 

The move, Meghan and Harry later said, was in part prompted by their mistreatment by fellow royals as well as Palace staff. 

It didn’t take long for rumours of Meghan’s behaviour to start after she officially joined the Royal Family in May 2018, prompting Palace aides to dub her ‘Duchess Difficult’.  

The Daily Mail’s renowned royal expert Richard Kay reported in December 2018 that there were tensions with staff after it emerged that Meghan sometimes sent emails to them at 5am.

He detailed how junior employees at Kensington Palace had become wearily familiar with emails and texts arriving at dawn from the newly married Duchess of Sussex. 

In the autumn of 2018, Jason Knauf, the couple’s communications secretary at the time, submitted a formal complaint about the claims in an apparent bid to protect his staff.

‘I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable,’ he allegedly wrote.

‘The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behaviour towards Y.’ 

For two-and-a-half years, the bullying claims remained secret. It was only after Harry and Meghan had quit royal life and moved to California that the allegations were made public.

They were published in The Times just days before the couple sat down for their tell-all interview with America’s TV queen, Oprah Winfrey, in March 2021.

One former employee told the newspaper that they had been personally ‘humiliated’ by the Duchess.

It was claimed that staff would be reduced to tears with one aide telling a colleague in anticipation of a confrontation with the Duchess: ‘I can’t stop shaking.’

They said they were ‘terrified’ after a row about whether Meghan was told the media was attending one of her events.

An aide was reported saying it felt ‘more like emotional cruelty and manipulation, which I guess could also be called bullying’. 

The Times claimed that after Harry and Meghan became engaged in late 2017 a senior member of palace staff warned them about the problems they may have if staff were treated badly. Meghan allegedly replied: ‘It’s not my job to coddle people.’

Sources complained that little appeared to have been done by senior courtiers to address the complaints, despite allegations that ‘members of staff, particularly young women, were being bullied to the point of tears’.

In response, representatives for the Duchess said that it was ‘being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative based on misleading and harmful misinformation’.

Harry and Meghan’s spokesman said at the time: ‘Let’s just call this what it is – a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation.’

Her lawyers said the former actress was ‘saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma’.

There was also a statement to the media calling the bullying claims defamatory.

Just a month before her monologue about meeting Archie in London, Ellen took to social media to defend the couple.

They had been under fire for their frequent use of private jets to travel, which critics say was a contradiction to their environmental efforts.

Ellen condemned those branding the royal couple hypocrites after using private jets four times in 11 days. 

She posted on Instagram: ‘Portia and I met Prince Harry and Meghan in England to talk about their work on wildlife conservation.

‘They were the most down-to-earth, compassionate people. Imagine being attacked for everything you do, when all you’re trying to do is make the world better.’

Ellen and Meghan’s friendship seemed to be going strong in late 2021 when the Duchess made a surprise appearance on the Ellen show 

It was her first major TV interview since her notorious Oprah tell-all alongside Prince Harry. 

Meghan used the interview to plug her children’s book The Bench, and revealed intimate, previously unknown details and anecdotes about her and Harry’s life together. 

However, things appear to have soured between the pair, with reports that Meghan is no longer on speaking terms with Ellen. 

Rob Shuter released an exclusive report revealing that sources told him the Duchess regrets having been affiliated with the talk show host and blames her for the ‘PR damage’ their interview did. 

On the contrary, in a report by InTouch, a source implied there was no bad blood between the two. 

Ellen and Portia relocated to the UK following Donald Trump’s presidential appointment. 

The source said Meghan found the move ‘pretty upsetting’ but ‘totally understands’ their motives. 

‘They helped them get settled in Montecito and introduced them to so many great people, they’re such a huge part of Meghan and Harry’s circle,’ they said. 

‘The silver lining, at least as far as Harry’s concerned, is that Meghan might actually agree to go over to the UK to visit them.

‘Knowing that she’d have Ellen and Portia’s support over there would be a real help and might be enough to get her to change her mind about never setting foot there again.’