Register

    Ellen DeGeneres to end long-running TV talk show next year

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1249 Views
    In this March 21, 2015, file photo, Ellen DeGeneres arrives at the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. DeGeneres, who has seen ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided her upcoming season next year will be the last. It coincides with the end of her contract. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

    By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Ellen DeGeneres is calling time on her long-running talk show.

    The daytime host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that the upcoming 19th season will be the last, ending in 2022. It coincides with the end of her contract.

    "Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that the truly great things never will," Mike Darnell, president of unscripted TV for Warner Bros., said in a statement Wednesday. "It was and is an indelible piece of the television landscape, and it will be sorely missed." 

    In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news, DeGeneres said that "as great as this show is, and as fun as it is," it's no longer a creative challenge.

    "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which started airing in 2003 and is distributed by Warner Bros., has a mix of dancing, games and giveaways along with A-list celebrities. But the host, who built her brand on the motto "Be Kind," opened season 18 in September with a lengthy apology.

    Three of the show's producers exited over the summer amid allegations of a dysfunctional workplace that harbored misbehavior, including sexual misconduct and racially insensitive remarks. 

    While the allegations were "very hurtful to me" they didn't influence her decision to leave the show, DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter. "I wouldn't have come back this season" if they had, she said.

    Nielsen data shows "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" viewership dropped by 1.1 million people this season, from 2.6 million viewers to 1.5 million viewers. 

    DeGeneres was the recipient of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2015 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom under Barack Obama in 2016. In addition to her talk show, she has had a hand in Fox's "The Masked Dancer," NBC's "Ellen's Game of Games" and HBO Max's "Ellen's Next Great Designer."

    DeGeneres's scripted TV show "Ellen" became a historic landmark in TV history in the 1990s when her character came out as gay.

    Tags:Ellen DeGeneresThe Ellen DeGeneres Show



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment