Ellen DeGeneres' recent announcement that her talk show willend after its 19th seasoncame after a turbulent year for the star, as she facedallegations of creating a toxic workplace environmentfor her staffers.
A week later, a show source tells PEOPLE that DeGeneres, 63, is “confident” in her decision.
“It’s sad that the show ends like this, but Ellen seems confident that she made the right decision,” the insider says in this week’s issue.
The source adds, “After the toxic workplace allegations, the question was more when will [the show] end and not if it will end.”
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Ellen DeGeneres.Gregg DeGuire/Getty
The allegations became public in July, whenBuzzFeed Newspublished a reportin which current and former staffers spoke anonymously about their experiences on set, which included claims of being penalized for taking medical leave, instances of racial microaggressions and fear of retribution for raising complaints.
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DeGeneres discussed the controversy, which prompted aninternal investigationlast summer, in herTHRinterview, saying it “almost impacted the show.”
“It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season,” she said, adding that the situation “destroyed me, honestly. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.”
Ellen DeGeneres.getty
“Kelly Clarksonis a logical choice,” says an industry source of the singer, who hosts her own titular talk show on NBC.
The source adds that DeGeneres' exit was not a surprise: “She was almost out the door before the controversy. She’s been talking about leaving for a few years now, but that was definitely the last straw.”
source: people.com
