Ellen DeGeneres has been off the radar since stepping away from the spotlight in 2022, following toxic workplace allegations that surfaced five years ago. But now, comedian Margaret Cho is reigniting the conversation—and she’s not holding back.
On the June 18 episode of The Kelly Mantle Show, Cho opened up about her longtime experience with the former talk show host. “Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career,” the 56-year-old said. “I opened for her in the 1980s when she was headlining comedy clubs, way before the fame. Then, when I appeared on her talk show in the 2000s, she acted like we just met. And I’m like, ‘B****, what?’ That’s weird. We go way back. It’s so creepy and weird.”
Margaret Cho didn’t stop at calling Ellen DeGeneres “creepy and weird”—she also brought up a moment involving David Bowie that still stings.
Cho shared that she once wore a “giant Chinese emperor outfit” to one of Bowie’s shows, and later, during his guest appearance on Ellen’s talk show, he raved about it. But none of that praise ever made it to air.
“The producer, who’s a really good friend of mine, had to call me and tell me, ‘I can’t believe she did this, but she cut it out of the show,’” Cho revealed. “‘But you need to know that he was going on and on about your outfit. He loves you.’” While she acknowledged the cut might’ve been for time, she admitted, “I’m gonna take it personally because I decided to.”
And Cho isn’t the only one who’s aired grievances about the former daytime TV queen. Back in 2020, Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett didn’t hold back on X (formerly Twitter), reacting to reports of a toxic environment behind the scenes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “Sorry but it comes from the top…” he wrote, tagging DeGeneres. “Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge.”
Actress Lea Thompson co-signed the claim, replying to a People headline about Garrett’s post with a short and direct message: “True story. It is.”
And it’s not just stars from Hollywood calling Ellen out—online personalities have chimed in as well.
In 2020, YouTube beauty guru NikkieTutorials (Nikkie de Jager) described her experience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as “cold and distant,” saying the vibe behind the scenes was nothing like what viewers see on TV.
“Call me naive, but I kind of expected to be welcomed with confetti cannons: ‘Welcome to The Ellen DeGeneres Show!’” NikkieTutorials told Dutch magazine &C. “But instead I was greeted by an angry intern who was a bit overworked. I was expecting a Disney show, but got Teletubbies After Dark.”
Singer Greyson Chance also didn’t hold back when recounting his time with DeGeneres. After being discovered by her in 2010 and signed to her label, he told Rolling Stone in 2022 that she “completely abandoned” him once the hype faded. The former teen star labeled Ellen “manipulative” and “self-centered,” and admitted the experience took a toll on his mental health.
Since her show ended, DeGeneres has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, spending more time at home with her wife, Portia de Rossi, whom she married in 2008.
