Producers of The Ellen Degeneres Show accused of sexual misconduct by former employees

The Ellen Degeneres Show is under scrutiny by its parent company WarnerMedia after allegations by its former employees, who have come forward and described their terrible experiences of working on the daytime talk show.

According to an [investigation by BuzzFeed News]1, the office is a place where sexual harassment and misconduct by top executive producers runs rampant.

Speaking to 36 former employees, all of who requested their identity is kept anonymous, many independently corroborated incidents of harassment, sexual misconduct, and assault from top producers like Kevin Leman.

"“He’d probably do it in front of 10 people and they’d laugh because ‘it’s just Kevin being Kevin,’ but if you’re in a position of power at a company, you don’t just get to touch me like that,” a former employee reported to Buzzfeed.

One spoke up about how the head writer had asked for a quick sexual favour at a company party in 2013; while another reported Leman groping a male production assistant and kissing his neck in the car.

Dozens of former employees also said executive producer Ed Glavin “had a reputation for being handsy with women,” especially in the control room, and managed the team through fear and intimidation.

Five former employees also said they saw Glavin use a button at his desk to remotely shut his office door “as an intimidation tactic” during reprimands.

In a follow-up, Kevin categorically denied the accusations. "I categorically deny any kind of sexual impropriety," the producer's statement to E! News said in part. "I'm horrified that some of my attempts at humor may have caused offense."

"I have always aimed to treat everyone on the staff with kindness, inclusivity and respect. In my whole time on the show, to my knowledge, I’ve never had a single HR or inter-personal complaint made about me, and I am devastated beyond belief that this kind of malicious and misleading article could be published," he said.

Following an investigation carried out by Warner Bros, the company identified some "deficiencies" related to the show.

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show is, and has always strived to be, a place that brings positivity to the world. And though not all of the allegations were corroborated, we are disappointed that the primary findings of the investigation indicated some deficiencies related to the show’s day-to-day management," they revealed in a statement.

A former Warner Brothers employee who worked with The Ellen Show said the company “turns a blind eye” to the alleged misconduct because the series “is a cash cow.”