TV Host Recalls ‘Bizarre” Ellen DeGeneres Encounter And Her Extreme Rules

WarnerMedia’s investigation into claims of a “toxic work environment” on the set of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has more sources close to the popular daytime host coming forward with their own personal accounts. The latest to speak out is Australian television host Neil Breen who shared a disturbing account of his own bizarre experience with Ellen DeGeneres back in 2013.

The Ellen show investigation was triggered by a recent BuzzFeed News article detailing claims by ten former employees as well as one current staffer of the show made against DeGeneres. While these weren’t the first such accusations against Ellen, the article appears to have opened a veritable Pandora’s box for the Emmy winner.

Earlier this year, some who worked on the show told comedian Kevin Porter about the rules Ellen allegedly insisted they follow including chewing gum before speaking with her and if she thinks you smell, you must go home and shower.

Television Host Recalls Experience With Ellen DeGeneres

Now Australian television host Neil Breen is corroborating these claims, saying that he had a similar experience with Ellen DeGeneres in 2013.

At the time, Breen was working as an executive producer on the Australian version of “Today” and  trying to organize an an interview with Ellen.

Breen recounted that Ellen was initially onboard to cohost the Australian morning show.

But, then Ellen’s commitment kept being downgraded until eventually she wasn’t even going to come to Sydney, where the morning show is filmed. So they took the show’s entire production to Melbourne  to accommodate her.

Breen told 4BC: 

“The whole thing got watered down to, Ellen DeGeneres would do a sit-down interview, right? We took the whole ‘Today’ show to Melbourne at our expense but she would do a sit-down interview with Richard Wilkins. So Richard Wilkins and I went to one of the flashy hotels in Melbourne, where this was all set up, just the two of us. Of course, because it’s the ‘Ellen Show,’ they controlled everything. So they controlled the interview seats, the lights, how it would work, everything.”

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Outlandish List Of Rules Neil Breen Had To Follow

Then Breen revealed the strange and extensive list of rules that he and Wilkins had to follow when it came time to meet with Ellen:

“We walk in and then the ‘Ellen Show’ producers, there was a lot of them, there was a lot of people there. Anyway the producers called us aside and said ‘OK this is how it’s going to work here this morning. Ellen is going to arrive at 10:15 and she’ll be sitting in this chair here and Richard you’ll be sitting in this chair here. Now Neil, no one is to talk to Ellen. So you don’t talk to her, you don’t approach her, you don’t look at her, she’ll come in, she’ll sit down, she’ll talk to Richard and then Ellen will leave and we’ll give you the thing.”

Breen said he was stunned by this and asked how he was supposed to interview Ellen without looking her in the eye.

“I found the whole thing bizarre.”

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Neil Breen’s Personal Take On Ellen DeGeneres

Breen did, however, stop short of saying DeGeneres was a bad person.

He explained that he has no idea what kind of person she is because the rules made it impossible to interact with her.

The TV host closed by saying:

“I’m not blaming Ellen because I didn’t get to talk to her because I wasn’t allowed to. So, I don’t know if she’s a nice person or not. I don’t have a clue. But I can tell you the people who work with her walked on eggshells the whole time and the whole thing was totally bizarre. Like, we’re there to do an interview to promote what she’s doing, but you can’t look at her? Someone get real.”

I don’t know about you, but Ellen’s demands certainly tell me a lot about her chracter.

No doubt Neil Breen’s account is yet another hit to Ellen DeGeneres’ personal brand. Which you might recall is all about telling people to “be kind” to one another.

Had she practiced what she was preaching a bit more, perhaps she would not be in the mess she has found herself in now.