During an appearance on “After Party with Emily Dashinsky,” comedian Adam Carolla shared his experience as a guest on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show 15 years ago. He claimed that staff members were “scared to death” of her and were “cowering” during his visit.
Carolla recalled how a segment producer approached him before his chat with DeGeneres to ensure he didn’t discuss anything outside of their pre-agreed topics, especially eating meat, as DeGeneres was a vegan at the time.
Despite the precautions, Carolla mentioned that the segment producer seemed extremely nervous and insisted multiple times that he refrain from mentioning meat during the conversation.
Describing the atmosphere at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” compared to other talk shows he had been on, Carolla noted that shows hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Jay Leno had a more relaxed vibe because the hosts were friendly. However, he pointed out that both David Letterman and DeGeneres’ staff appeared fearful.
“Ellen’s show, people were scared — real scared,” he claimed.
Carolla also mentioned a conversation he had with a writer who worked for both DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell. The writer allegedly described DeGeneres as the worst person he had ever met, even worse than O’Donnell.
When asked about Ellen, Carolla recalled the writer’s response, “Worst person, uh, worst person — not worst person I’ve worked for, worst person I’ve ever met.”
“She’s not a nice person at all,” he said of DeGeneres, continuing to explain that everyone seemed scared of her, indicating her mean behavior.
DeGeneres’ representative did not respond immediately to Page Six’s request for comment.
Last September, DeGeneres addressed the accusations of being labeled as “mean” and running a toxic workplace in her Netflix stand-up special, “For Your Approval,” while living in England with her wife, Portia de Rossi. She expressed pride in her personal growth and no longer letting others’ opinions affect her.
“If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t, you’re out,” she acknowledged. “And I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me. So, the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time.”
“After a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore. So I don’t,” she concluded.
