‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’ ex-producer details the ‘culture of fear’ rampant off-screen

After a number of employees came forth to detail their harrowing experiences of working with Ellen DeGeneres, a former producer has also contributed to the mounting criticism against her.

Hedda Muskat, who worked on the Ellen DeGeneres Show as a producer, wrote a piece for The Wrap, detailing how the workplace environment turned toxic after her decision to keep her sources concealed from the producers.

Muskat was a veteran writer with names like The Howie Mandel Show and The Martin Short Show under her credit. When she joined Ellen in 2003, the program was in the midst of development.

She recalled how she was gradually sidelined in favour of a younger male producer and how her responsibilities eventually were shifted away from her from writing her own segments to preparing for the guests she had booked.

"One day I get called into the office. [Producer] Ed [Glavin] says to me, ‘You know, Hedda, we're really loving your segments. I don't know how you do it. We're going to need all your sources.' I've worked 18 years to build those sources. Those sources are why you hired me,” she recalled.

After turning down the request, Muskat claims she felt that everyone on the show turned against her.

She recalled another incident where Glavin yelled at a crew member in front of everyone.

“He just went off on them. His whole face turned red…We were stunned. You could just see everybody's faces go stiff. We're professionals; we're adults. We don't need a dog to get us to do our jobs,” she wrote.

She went on to state that the show’s general environment developed a “culture of fear” and she was dismissed in May 2004, days prior to the Ellen DeGeneres Show bagging an award for Outstanding Talk Show at the Daytime Emmy Awards.