Ellen DeGeneres is a ‘big kiss a**e’ who only likes famous people

Former Ellen DeGeneres Show producer Hedda Muskat has unleashed on the embattled talk show host again.

On Friday, Muskat appeared on the Australian radio show Kyle and Jackie O and described Ellen is a ‘big kiss a**’ who only likes famous people.

The latest claims come as The Ellen DeGeneres Show faces an internal investigation following claims of bullying, racism and sexual harassment behind the scenes. 

Muskat said point blank that Ellen ‘did not like people’. 

‘She was not friendly with people, that I noticed,’ she claimed. ‘The only people that she was friendly with were the A-list movie stars. She’s a big kiss a**.’

Two days earlier, the disgruntled ex-staffer had claimed on breakfast show Sunrise that she’d been ’emotionally abused’ during her time working for Ellen.  

Muskat, who worked the debut season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2003, said that she was ‘fired for no reason’.

‘I was more emotionally abused, fired for no reason… they told me that they were just going to take the show in a different direction. They ended up gave my job to a guy I trained who was about 24 years old and had no experience,’ she said. 

Muskat claimed that executive producer Ed Glavin once pulled her into his office and told her to reveal her contacts and sources, which she refused to do.

‘From that moment I was on the hit list and no longer invited to staff meetings… wasn’t allowed to sit at their table at the Emmys – it was a very egg-shell environment,’ she added. 

Muskat alleged that Ellen’s behaviour was poor from the beginning and that she would often ‘snarl’ at staffers.

‘When you walk into her office for example, to pitch her your segments, there was always a snarl. I always felt that I was never welcomed in her office, she always hurried me. “Get to the point, get to the point,”‘ she said.

Muskat claimed that after a few months, she was told to no longer go into Ellen’s office because she wasn’t welcome.

Muskat claims to be the first producer to speak on the record about workplace bullying on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as other former staffers have come forward anonymously. 

She said: ‘I’m coming forward because… she trivalised and minimalised everybody’s accusations. Nobody wanted to listen to us until now.’

It comes after Muskat called Ellen ‘toxic’ in an interview with The Wrap that was published on Monday.

‘I had never seen this before, I had never been around a toxic host,’ she said.

She recalled one incident when Ellen ‘giggled’ while the show’s executive producer, Ed Glavin, screamed at a crew member in front of an entire room.

‘He [Glavin] just went off on them. His whole face turned red. … We were stunned,’ Muskat recalled.

‘I was waiting for Ellen to say something like, “Whoa, Ed, don’t talk like that”. But do you know what she did? She giggled.

‘She [Ellen] crossed her legs up on the chair and she said, “Well, I guess every production needs their dog.”

‘You could just see everybody’s faces go stiff. We’re professionals; we’re adults. We don’t need a dog to get us to do our jobs… She was the only one giggling.’ 

The Ellen DeGeneres Show scandal is making headlines around the world amid claims the work culture is rife with bullying, racism and sexual harassment.

In July, staffers on the syndicated daytime talk show cited a number of the show’s executive producers in their complaints, including Kevin Leman and Ed Glavin. 

In a leaked memo last week, Ellen told her employees she was sorry about what was going on. 

‘On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,’ she wrote. 

‘Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.’

Ellen said she was unable to ‘stay on top of everything’ with her hosting duties and delegated to ‘others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done.

‘Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again… I’m also learning that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop.’

She added: ‘As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded. To think that any one of you felt that way is awful to me.’

Celebrities who have gone public against Ellen include Brad Garrett and Lea Thompson, while stars who’ve defended her include Scooter Braun, Katy Perry, Kevin Hart and Ellen’s wife of 12 years, Portia de Rossi.  

Meanwhile, a the talk show queen is said to be ‘crushed,’ ‘devastated’ and ‘hysterical’ amid calls for her to leave the show she’s hosted for 17 years.

‘She felt like everything she worked so hard for was falling apart,’ an insider told the New York Post.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ellen DeGeneres’ representatives for comment.