The final episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airs on NBC on May 26, capping a 19-year run on daytime television for the host, now 64. As TV insiders recently told Page Six, it was an “emotional” time for Ellen, who The final installment was filmed late last month.
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“Eileen was crying a lot. The few weeks leading up to the final were very emotional,” a source told the newspaper in a May 14 report.
Reportedly, Eileen skipped the red carpet or celebrity-stuffed audience in the episode, which features Jennifer Aniston and Pink – guests who also appeared at the series’ premiere back in 2003.
A TV insider said, “She wanted to go out quietly. They were friends and family of the actors and the crew of the audience.”
Ellen’s wife, Portia de Rossi, and brother, Vance DeGeneres, both supported the star as she filmed the final shows.
“Ellen, 100 percent, did it on her own terms,” an insider told Page Six. “You’ve come out the way you want it to. There has been no dehydration in the house the last day.”
Eileen announced plans to leave 10 months after she and several of the show’s top producers were subjected to widespread allegations that they fostered a bad workplace. After Buzzfeed News reported allegations of routine intimidation of senior officials, sexual harassment, racism and more behind-the-scenes negativity in 2020, Warner Bros. An internal investigation found enough evidence to fire producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman.
When Elaine returned to start Season 18, she addressed the scandal in the first episode, telling viewers, “I’ve learned that things happen here that should never have happened. I take that very seriously. And I want to say I’m very sorry for the people affected.”
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Ratings dropped dramatically during the 2020-2021 season, according to the New York Post, and Elaine will later admit to Savannah Guthrie on “The Today” that she considered ending the show immediately because the allegations were “devastating.”
Instead, it withstood on.
Another source, referring to Ellen’s controversial decision, said, “When Elaine started the show, the studio told her ‘You can’t say ‘we’ when you’re talking about your girlfriend, ‘that’s what she was dealing with at first.'” To come out as gay.
And the person continued, “No one thought that the show would be broadcast, even selling it at first was very difficult.” “She’s always wanted to go through 19 seasons, and she’s had people who depend on her for their livelihood.”
Over her nearly two decades on the air, Eileen has donated “nearly half a billion dollars to viewers and those in need,” the newspaper reported.
After filming the final episode, Elaine reportedly celebrated this milestone at a party in Hollywood with the crew and friends.
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An insider added, “When you look back at all the things you’ve done for people over the past 19 years, it’s powerful.” “The most important thing for Elaine over the past few weeks and everyone on the team has been to show the family that this show is – and that’s how the sentiment came from the collective feeling they had.”
In addition to Jane Aniston and Pink, the final episode of “Ellen” features Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Keri Washington, Billie Eilish and more.
In a post about the finale on Instagram last week, Eileen shared her gratitude to the fans, writing, “Thank you to everyone celebrating my last season with me.”
