Ellen DeGeneres terrified the staff on an Australian TV show, it's claimed.
The TV presenter is reportedly facing an internal investigation into her show Ellen amid claims there is a "toxic work culture" on set, with former and current employees telling the publication that they "faced racism, fear and intimidation".
Now Neil Breen, who worked as a producer when Ellen appeared on Australia's Today show, said she left staff on his programme "walking on eggshells" around her.
He claimed Ellen's staff were the only ones who were allowed to interact with her and they dictated everything, from seating, to lighting, to how the interview would work.
Speaking on his show on 4BC, Breen said: "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.'"
He added: "'She'll come in, she'll sit down, she'll talk to Richard and then Ellen will leave." And I sort of said, 'Are you fair dinkum? I can't look at her?' I found the whole thing bizarre."
Breen said he had to ask Ellen's staff to stop laughing at her jokes because it was interrupting the recording.
"I have no idea whether she's a nice person or not, I wouldn't have a clue,' he added.
"But I can tell you the people who work with her walked on eggshells the whole time.
|We're there to do an interview to promote what she's doing, but you can't look at her? Someone get real."
Mirror Online has contacted reps for Ellen for comment.
According to Variety, a memo was sent to those working on the show last week telling them that current and former staff would be interviewed about their experiences on Ellen's set.
This followed after an article was reported by BuzzFeed in July that alleged there was a "toxic work culture " on set.
Following the explosive story, the show's executive producers Andy Lassner and Mary Connelly released a statement saying they were "truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience".
