Ellen DeGeneres reveals she sought therapy following toxic workplace scandal and talk show fallout

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has opened up about seeking treatment after being accused by multiple people of fostering a hostile work environment on her own talk show back in 2020.

Ellen revealed that she spent a "while" in therapy in order to cope with the "hatred" she received following accusations that she created a toxic work environment on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'.

The former talk show host revealed the latest information in her last stand-up special, 'For Your Approval', which debuted on Netflix on Tuesday, September 24.

Ellen DeGeneres reveals she sought therapy to 'deal with all the hatred' she was receiving

Ellen Degeneres did not hold back while discussing the scandal that rocked her eponymous series in her new Netflix special.

Besides teasing that she was "kicked out of show business," Ellen acknowledged that she sought professional help to try and make sense of why everyone seemed to be "hating" on her.

"I was in therapy for a while trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me. It was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with," she said during her final professional special, as per The Daily Beast.

She added, "At one point, my therapist said, ‘Ellen where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’"

"And I said, ‘Well, New York Times, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, I think Elmo may have said something recently on an episode of Sesame Street."

Ellen continued, "She said, ‘Well I think you just need to avoid looking at the news, just avoid media.’ I said, ‘I am. I’m not looking at anything'."

"But I would always know when something was going on because I’d start getting texts from friends saying thinking of you or sending love."

At the end of her monologue, Ellen said that she liberated herself from caring about what other people thought of her, as she has been reflecting back on what she has learned during her career.

She said, "I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy, and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me, so the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time."

"But with time, you gain perspective... with perspective, you realize that caring what people think to a degree is healthy, but not if it affects your mental health," she added, as per TODAY.

Ellen DeGeneres' problems mounted following 'racism, fear, and intimidation' allegations

According to Daily Mail, the beginning of Ellen DeGeneres' problems began in March 2020 when comedian Kevin T Porter sent a single tweet asking for the "most insane stories you've heard about Ellen being mean."

After receiving 2,600 responses, it prompted an exposé by BuzzFeed News four months later, which included accusations of "racism, fear, and intimidation."

By August 2020, WarnerMedia initiated an internal probe, Ellen apologized in writing to all 255 of her staff members, and soon after, executive producers Kevin Leman, Ed Glavin, and Jonathan Norman were terminated from the show.

Regarding the accusations, Ellen remarked in a September 2020 episode, "I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected."

"I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realized that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show."

Ellen ended her show altogether in 2021. She clarified in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that the show was no longer "a challenge." The last episode aired in May 2022.