TV Executive Reveals His 2013 Experience with Ellen DeGeneres Amid All the Toxic Work Culture Rumors

A senior executive of Australia’s Today show, Neil Breen, is speaking about his personal experience with Ellen DeGeneres in 2013.

During an interview with radio station 4BC, he explained what he was told by Ellen’s staff during their sit down, where she was prepping to interview entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins in Melbourne.

“The producer called us aside and said, ‘Now Neil, no one is to talk to Ellen. 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,’” Neil recalled.

Neil added that he wasn’t sure if these rules came from Ellen herself “because I never got to talk to her.”

“I have no idea whether she’s a nice person or not, I wouldn’t have a clue. But I can tell you the people who work with her walked on eggshells the whole time,” Neil continued. “We’re there to do an interview to promote what she’s doing, but you can’t look at her? Someone get real.”

If you don’t know, following many reports that claimed that Ellen DeGeneres is not a friendly person and doesn’t live up to her “be kind” slogan, a BuzzFeed report claimed that there was a toxic work environment at her talk show. The show is now under investigation over this report.