Recently, a relative of mine posted online that she’s “done with everyone talking s--- about Ellen DeGeneres.”
She wrote that the TV talk show host had “pulled me out of depression throughout the years by making me laugh,” and that she finds the allegations against DeGeneres “all extremely hard to believe” because “she has brought so much happiness to the world.”
I tried — with extremely limited success — to let her down easily. To let her know that the people she sees on TV are not always who the people are in real life. They’re performing. They’re playing a character, even if that character is a version of themselves.
To be clear, I don’t know exactly what happened behind the scenes of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” But, clearly, there was something to the allegations of a toxic workplace, racial insensitivity and sexual misconduct because three of the show’s top producers have been ousted after an investigation by Warner Bros., which produces and distributes “Ellen.”
DeGeneres herself apologized to her staff, and promised that she (along with everyone else on the show) would participate in diversity and sensitivity training.
She wasn’t fired, of course. With rare exceptions, stars don’t get fired. There’s no “Ellen” without Ellen, and the show makes a lot of money for WarnerMedia and its parent company, AT&T.
But, ultimately, it’s DeGeneres’ show and she’s responsible for everything that happens on it. Although it’s not unusual for stars to try to shield themselves. It’s standard Hollywood operating procedure for performers to hire managers, agents and/or producers who are paid to act badly so the star doesn’t have to — so he/she can float above the fray.
In the three decades I’ve been covering television, that’s happened to me on multiple occasions. I’ve run into some personal publicists whose behavior is abominable.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve interviewed DeGeneres multiple times, dating back to before her ABC sitcom debuted in 1994. My encounters with her were always pleasant, and I genuinely liked her.
But smart stars know it’s to their advantage to make interviewers like them so we’ll write nice things. And I didn’t work for DeGeneres, so I have no idea what that’s like — or have any reason to doubt the allegations of “Ellen” staffers.
A couple of decades ago, a dear friend of mine was the showrunner on a series that I liked a lot, centered on a character I adored. When my friend told me the actress was nothing like her character — that she was not a particularly nice person — I was a little bit crushed.
“Scott, you know she’s not that character, right?” my friend scolded.
Yeah, I knew. But it was disappointing nonetheless. And it’s worth remembering that just because the person on TV makes you laugh — makes you like them — doesn’t mean he/she is actually a good person.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) In this Sept. 24, 2018 file photo, Bill Cosby arrived for his sentencing in Norristown, Pa. Cosby has appealed a court decision that upheld his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home. He is serving a three- to 10-year prison term at a maximum-security state prison in Pennsylvania.
It wasn’t that many years ago that Bill Cosby was known as “America’s Dad.” He wasn’t just starring as the father everyone wished they had in “The Cosby Show,” but he was making audiences at stand-up shows howl with laughter when he told stories about his real-life family.
Frankly, Cosby wasn’t my favorite person. In interviews, he was arrogant and condescending (at least to me). But I never imagined he’d end up in prison, a convicted sex offender. And women who trusted the real-life Cosby to be similar to the TV Cosby felt safe with him — until they weren’t.
Donald Trump, host of the television series "The Celebrity Apprentice," mugs for photographers at the NBC 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington Hotel on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
It’s not like my young relative is alone. Almost 63 million people voted for Donald Trump in 2016, based in part on his TV image as a tough-minded, successful businessman — which he most definitely was not. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting by The New York Times, during the 1990s Trump and his relatives committed “outright fraud” to avoid paying taxes on his father’s estate, and Trump’s businesses lost money every year from 1985-94 — a total of more than $1 billion — as he repeatedly declared bankruptcy.
You never would’ve guessed that from what you saw on “The Apprentice.”
I’m not painting with a broad brush here. Not all stars are monsters. I’ve gotten to know (or know of) some who are genuinely fine people. But there are bad apples, too, and stardom allows them a certain freedom to act in ways most of us couldn’t get away with.
There’s nothing wrong with getting laughs from DeGeneres or enjoying the faux drama on “The Apprentice.” The problem comes when you forget that what you see on TV is not real.
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