He’s no stranger to controversy himself, and now Kyle Sandilands has come out defending Ellen DeGeneres – whose daytime talk show is the subject of multiple complaints of racism, bullying and a ‘toxic environment’ behind the scenes.
Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday, the 49-year-old shock jock claimed the accusations recently levelled against Ellen by staffers were ‘a bit unfair’.
It comes after current and former employees working on The Ellen DeGeneres Show made allegations of bullying and harassment, prompting an internal investigation.
Speaking out: He’s no stranger to controversy himself, and now Kyle Sandilands (pictured in Sydney last month) has come out defending Ellen DeGeneres amid employee complaints she fostered a ‘toxic’ work environment
‘You know what these things are like… It’s never the star that goes on and insists these things happen. It’s always the idiots that are around them,’ Kyle said.
‘Producers mainly, publicists, they’ve really got an attitude problem. And I know what they’re trying to do. The publicists, they make these stars look like a**eholes, and not on purpose.’
Speaking on his 4BC radio show on Thursday, former Today executive producer Neil Breen claimed that when Ellen, 62, brought her show to Australia back in 2013, he was instructed, ‘You don’t talk to her, you don’t approach her, you don’t look at her.’
Coming to her defence: Speaking on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Friday, the 49-year-old radio shock jock claimed the accusations recently levelled against Ellen DeGeneres (pictured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show) were ‘a bit unfair’
But Kyle again defended the star and explained that the role of a publicist is to get the talent in and out of interviews as quickly as possible.
‘She might have 30 interviews to do that day, so she hasn’t got time to walk around and hear Neil’s story about how his wife loves watching,’ he explained.
He added: ‘Ellen doesn’t have time for that. But it’s never her or any other star. This happens with all the stars. They all come in, all their people, their hangers-on, they all have the same sort of, “Don’t talk to her, don’t do this.” All these crazy rules!’
‘You know what these things are like… It’s never the star that goes on and insists these things happen. It’s always the idiots that are around them,’ claimed Kyle
Kyle finished by saying he couldn’t understand why everybody is ‘wanting to bash up Ellen DeGeneres’.
On Friday, Ellen issued an apology to her staff, and claimed she’d been previously unaware of the situation.
‘On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,’ she began, as reported by Variety.
Sorry: On Friday, Ellen issued an apology to her staff, and claimed she’d been previously unaware of the situation
‘Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.’
Ellen also said she had discovered ‘that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop’.
She finished: ‘I want everyone at home to love our show and I want everyone who makes it to love working on it. Again, I’m so sorry to anyone who didn’t have that experience.’
‘On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,’ she began. Pictured at a show in Canada in October 2018