The Ellen DeGeneres Show is cancelled by Australia’s Channel Nine

Channel Nine has stopped airing The Ellen DeGeneres Show effective as of Monday.

The network is instead airing reruns of Desperate Housewives – which previously screened on Seven – during Ellen’s usual time slot between 12pm and 1pm.

‘We are resting Ellen repeats on Nine and have replaced with Desperate Housewives,’ a Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

While The Ellen DeGeneres Show is being ‘rested’ for the time being, it may return if Nine manages to reach an agreement with Warner Bros.

Industry website TV Blackbox reports that Nine is ‘in talks’ with the American media giant regarding syndication rights for the new season, which begins next month.

The U.S. talk show, which has aired on Nine since 2013, is currently the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia, after multiple staffers alleged that bullying, racism and sexual harassment were rampant behind the scenes.

Earlier this month, a Nine representative confirmed the network had declined to air new episodes from the current season, which Ellen is recording in self-isolation from her $27million mansion in California, because they were best-of episodes.

‘In the end, they were running best-of iso compiles which we weren’t contracted to acquire,’ the spokesperson added.

Instead, the broadcaster elected to screen reruns from before the coronavirus pandemic forced production to move from the studio to Ellen’s home.

However, these repeats have now stopped airing altogether, with soap opera Desperate Housewives – starring Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria – filling the midday time slot instead.

Nine had actually stopped airing Ellen’s self-isolation broadcasts back in April, and replaced them with the American sitcom Kevin Can Wait.

But the network resumed airing repeats of The Ellen DeGeneres Show a week later.

It remains to be seen if Nine relents once again by pulling Desperate Housewives from the schedule and reinstating Ellen.

While Ellen won’t be airing on Nine, it hasn’t been pulled from Australian television altogether because it also screens locally on FOX Arena.

It comes after multiple staffers stepped forward to accuse the 62-year-old host and her senior executives of perpetuating a ‘toxic work environment’.

The program’s parent company, WarnerMedia, has launched an investigation after a handful of employees went public with their grievances.

Last month, one current and ten former employees accused the three executive producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, of ‘bullying’.

When approached for comment on these allegations, a Nine spokesperson said on August 10: ‘We are awaiting the findings of the internal inquiry.’

On July 30, Ellen 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.

In response to the growing outrage, Warner Bros. Television announced last Monday that three senior producers had been fired from Ellen’s show: Ed Glavin, one of the executive producers; Jonathan Norman, a co-executive producer; and Kevin Leman, the show’s head writer.

They were sacked following an internal investigation in multiple allegations of a ‘toxic’ work culture behind the scenes of the popular daytime talk show.

Employees described working in a culture rife with ‘racism, fear and intimidation’.

Much of the employees’ fury was directed at Glavin, along with producers Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner – but Connelly and Lassner both retained their jobs and will continue to work in the same roles.

Leman was accused by multiple employees of sexual harassment, though he denied any improper behaviour. 

Ellen addressed staff last Monday via video chat to announce the firings, while also revealing that the show’s DJ, Stephen Laurel ‘tWitch’ Boss, had been promoted to executive producer.

The comedian offered up a second apology to her staffers during the same video call, following an earlier apology in July in which she presented the misconduct allegations as something that she wasn’t aware of.

Ellen is under contract to continue hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show for Warner Bros. Television through 2022, and she recently signed a new deal to develop three shows for WarnerMedia’s new streaming platform, HBO Max.

Though much of the misconduct was alleged to come from her top staff, more recently the focus has turned to Ellen’s own behaviour.

On Friday, Modern Family star Sofia Vergara responded after footage of Ellen poking fun at her accent resurfaced and went viral.

The Colombian-born actress claimed they were just ‘two comedians having fun with each other to entertain.’

‘I was never a victim guys,’ Sofia added. ‘I was always in on the joke.’

Comedian Kevin Hart also came to his friend’s defence and claimed Ellen and her staff had always been kind to him and his own employees.

However, it’s important to note that Ellen has never been accused of mistreating people she considered her equals.

On Thursday, Variety reported that Ellen’s newest damage control strategy was to offer her employees new benefits.

Staffers will now get five paid days off for use as they please – though it wasn’t clear if this was in addition to their vacation time.

Employees will also get their birthdays off with pay, and there’s a more liberal policy for paid time off for medical appointments and family matters.

Ironically, the news was delivered by Connelly and Lassner, who have been widely accused by staffers as being the cause of problems on set.