Things are looking worse and worse for Ellen DeGeneres. The talk-show host recently responded to allegations of racism and mistreatment by current and former employees of her daytime talk show by issuing an apology to her staff who had been “treated unfairly, not equal — or worse — disregarded.†In the letter, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter this week, DeGeneres put most of the blame for the allegations on the show’s producers, who she said “are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop.†But one person read DeGeneres’s apology and decided to call her out on her blame-shifting: Everybody Loves Raymond alum Brad Garrett. Just after midnight on July 31, the actor responded to the news of DeGeneres’s apology on Twitter by writing, “Sorry but it comes from the top â¦@TheEllenShow Know more than one who were treated horribly by her.â© Common knowledge.â€
Garrett’s tweet was posted shortly before BuzzFeed News published a new and even more damning report, in which 36 former Ellen employees alleged that the producers of the show engaged in “rampant sexual misconduct,†harassment, and assault. At the center of the allegations are head writer and executive producer Kevin Leman, executive producer Ed Glavin, and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman. According to two sources who spoke to THR prior to the new allegations, Glavin will reportedly be one of the staffers fired as a result of WarnerMedia’s ongoing investigation of the show, which was prompted by BuzzFeed News’ original report published on July 16. In BuzzFeed’s latest report, five former employees accused Glavin of touching them inappropriately, and dozens of others said he had a reputation for “being handsy with women.â€
Update, August 1: Actress and director Lea Thompson has chimed in on Twitter to support Brad Garrett’s comments. Responding to a People aggregated story about Garrett and Ellen DeGeneres, Thompson agreed with Garrett’s “common knowledge†of mistreatment assessment, writing, “True story, it is.†She offered no further comment on the topic.