Media insider Peter Ford slams Portia de Rossi for suggesting that serious bullying accusations made against her wife Ellen DeGeneres are fake
Portia de Rossi has started a hashtag campaign defending her wife, Ellen DeGeneres, whose daytime talk show is facing multiple allegations of racism, bullying and sexual harassment behind the scenes.
On Tuesday, the Australian actress shared a post to Instagram including the hashtags #IStandWithEllenDeGeneres and #StopBotAttacks – with the latter suggesting that some of the claims made against Ellen are from fake social media accounts.
In response, Channel Seven entertainment reporter Peter Ford has slammed Portia for suggesting that the bullying accusations made against her spouse are fabricated.
Analysis: Media insider Peter Ford (pictured) has slammed Portia de Rossi for suggesting that serious bullying accusations made against her wife, Ellen DeGeneres, are somehow fake
During an appearance on The Morning Show on Tuesday, Ford said: ‘Portia has kind of started up this hashtag campaign on social media. I would have thought this was a bit too serious to be turning it into a hashtag campaign.’
He added: ‘What I find interesting about this is the hashtag “stop bot attacks”… some of these allegations against Ellen and her workplace have involved sexual assault and sexual harassment – not by Ellen, but by people who are employed by the show, up high, towards people lower down.
‘The mantra is to believe all accusers; that was the whole thing in the #MeToo movement. Now Portia is dismissing some of those people making accusations as being “bots”, which just means “stupid idiots” basically.’
Hashtag: On Tuesday, the Australian actress shared a post to Instagram including the hashtags #IStandWithEllenDeGeneres and #StopBotAttacks – with the latter suggesting that some of the claims made against Ellen are from fake social media accounts
Dismissing: Ford has claimed that Portia (right, with Ellen DeGeneres) is ‘dismissing some of those people making accusations as being “bots”, which just means “stupid idiots” basically’
Ford’s analysis comes after multiple staffers from The Ellen DeGeneres Show stepped forward to accuse the 62-year-old and senior executives of perpetuating a ‘toxic work environment’.
The program’s parent company, WarnerMedia, last week launched an investigation after a handful of employees went public with their grievances.
Last month, one current and ten former employees of the daytime chat show accused its three executive producers, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, of ‘bullying’.
His take: ‘Portia has kind of started up this hashtag campaign on her social media. I would have thought this was a bit too serious to be turning it into a hashtag campaign,’ Ford said. Pictured: Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen is now allegedly telling executives at Telepictures and Warner Bros. that she has had enough and wants to pull the plug on the show.
Last Thursday, she attempted to do some internal damage control by issuing an apology email to current staffers, in which she appeared to deflect all blame and noted that she was ‘disappointed’ to learn the show was not ‘a place of happiness’.
The email was immediately met with backlash, with many expressing disappointment over Ellen shifting the blame to her executive producers.
Scandal: Ford’s analysis comes after multiple staffers from The Ellen DeGeneres Show stepped forward to accuse the 62-year-old of perpetuating a ‘toxic work environment