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How to Handle to Mob: Stop Apologizing
Normally, this advice is applicable for those at the center of cancel culture mobs, but it extends to mobs in general, too. A mob is currently coming after talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres and the pressure is mounting to such a degree that there are now reports the host is considering leaving her own show.
The storm started with an explosive BuzzFeed story outlining some serious allegations:
BuzzFeed News spoke to 36 former employees, many of whom independently corroborated incidents of harassment, sexual misconduct, and assault from top producers like Leman. All of the ex-employees, many of whom had voluntarily left the show, asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution.
Warner Bros. declined to comment on specific allegations, citing an ongoing internal investigation that was launched after an earlier BuzzFeed News report in which current and former employees said they faced racism, fear, and intimidation at work.
But in a statement on Thursday, the studio said it “hoped to determine the validity and extent of publicly reported allegations and to understand the full breadth of the show’s day-to-day culture.”
The show released an important statement about taking those serious allegations seriously, but soon, the claws came out for the show and its host and the complaints became pettier. One report complained of routine COVID-related miscommunication between staff and crew:
According to a new report from Variety, the more than 30 employees who make up the stage crew for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” were not given any formal communication about the status of the show, their working hours or pay for more than a month after regular production was shut down. According to two unnamed sources, those who were able to get through to higher-ups via phone were not given any concrete answers as to what was happening.
And perhaps most ridiculously, a bodyguard from the 2014 Oscars show complained the star (who may have been a bit nervous about hosting the Oscars) was cold.
Ellen and her producers need to take the Trader Joe’s tactic: responding to a petition that some of their labels were racist, the supermarket chain pushed back and defended themselves, saying they are not racist and they’re not going anywhere. After the first statement about justifiably troubling workplace behavior, this is what those involved in the show should have done with repeated reports of workplace malcontent. “We are sorry that these individuals speaking to you off-the-record are not happy working on one of the most successful shows in daytime history. They know how to contact HR with a resignation letter and are invited to do so at their earliest convenience.”
Published in General
This is the monster that they created, no? When DeGeneres didn’t fold up her tent and retreat permanently into the night after committing the sin of sitting next to George W. Bush during a football game, they needed to show her they meant business. Next thing you know they’ll provide evidence that she’s been sleeping around with a man.
Doubt it. I expect the storm started last Fall, when Ellen sat with George W. Bush at a sports game (sorry, not my wheelhouse, can’t remember which sport), and said that she and Bush were “friends” even though they differed politically on a great many things.
Since then, she’s spoken up for “kindness to everyone” a great many times.
Fighting words, if you’re a true believer.
Ask J.K. Rowling.
This is about her sitting next to Bush, and that’s all it’s about. With the Left, their stated agenda is never their real one. Never. Just as the riots were not about a dead black guy and the corona shutdowns are not about a virus with a 99% survival rate, and the immigrant caravans had nothing to do with compassion for immigrants, none of this has anything to do with conditions at the Ellen Show.
They are terrified of any remote possibility of friendship across the aisle, so they hammer her down. They’re so afraid one of their own might get to talking with one of THEM and maybe start to see things from a different angle. They know that their ideas don’t stand up to scrutiny, so their immediate response is to silence anyone who even shows common courtesy to the Enemy. Think about it! The common courtesy of having a civil conversation with someone who doesn’t have the same politics as you will now cause you to lose your career and livelihood, and probably all your friends. And Barack Obama had the colossal gall to say (at a funeral no less, which he of course made all about HIM) that the RIGHT is divisive! Hahaha OMG!
While I stand horrified by the spectacle, I also think they have no idea how many red pills they’re unwittingly handing out.
Right. Remember the Left’s guiding principle: the “issue” is never the issue.
I have no idea. I’ve seen a total of five minutes of Ellen in my entire life. But I skimmed the article and it does seem like it is an open question the extent to which she was aware of what was going on, and it is probably worth knowing since I’m sure she is open to legal liability if she was aware.
I guess… the Trader Joes thing compared to the Ellen thing… it strikes me as two different ballparks. With Trader Joes, people were looking to get offended. With Ellen it sounds like actual harassment, possibly aided and abetted by the boss pretending to not notice anything.
Bethany,
I have made it my business to never watch Ellen for as long as her show has been on. I never found her stand up act very funny. When she came out I was even less interested. I know that I should be concerned about the cancel culture mob but I have very little concern left in me. I am not interested in normalizing homosexuality. I perceived her show’s theme to be “America’s favorite lesbian”. When I would accidentally see a 20 or 30-second clip of her, it confirmed my preconception. She was vacuous. The whole show was one running gag. Ellen is gay!
Thus the lefty identity politics creatures who created the demand for Ellen now want her scalp. I just don’t care.
Sorry.
Regards,
Jim
I’ve always thought Ellen was funny. She certainly comes across as warm and sincere. My first reaction is similar to others in that she has made tactical errors when being kind to all in public. Of course, we have no idea what happened behind closed doors.
Anonymous complaints aren’t worth responding to. People should be able to face their accusers and debate accusations directly. Whistleblowers can be expected to show courage and accept scrutiny.
I have been hearing that there are rather sharp differences between Ellen’s TV personna and what she is like off air. These are admittedly second-hand comments, but, in general, we should be cautious about the manner in which we judge celebrities by how they appear on air. If there’s a lesson here, that’s likely it.
When Mordor orcs are fighting and killing Isengard orcs, just sit back and watch. This is a gift.
Warning: the following screed contains an inadvertent pun and mixed metaphors:
Once there was a dike. It was a dam built to be sturdy; it was tall and wide.
The purpose of its construction was to hold back the tidewaters of despotism and the mob.
Of course, The Powers That Be never cared for this structure. They succeeded just a very few years back in targeting one of the more unappealing parts of the dike, the dam’s section labelled Alex Jones.
They drilled a hole in the area that held Alex. It was considered an outlying portion of the structure. The Powers That Be always know what they are doing.
Some of us, like the Dutch child in the fable, rushed in to block the hole, and to stop the waters of the despotic forces we feared.
For this we were ridiculed. We had to endure endless lectures on the obnoxious shrill nature of Jones’ broadcasts. (As if anyone who ever had listened to Alex for even five minutes did not know it.)
So we tried to say that was not the point – that if the unruly mob or the PTB could drill a hole into the one edifice that held up our guaranteed right to Free Speech, then it followed that other parts of the edifice would come crumbling down.
Our replies were usually ignored.
So now we have Miss Pollyanna deGeneris, a symbol of the status quo, being pilloried and perhaps collapsed into the same muck that almost swamped Mr Jones.
All I know is how I am sorry that so many citizens refuse to ever stand up for principles, until the wolves we could have fought in the hills stand right at our front door.
Hot.
Me too. Her standup in the 80s was hilarious. When she came out, she vowed never to become “the poster child for LGBT” and then proceeded to become exactly that. As to how she might treat employees, they should quit and find other employment. That’s what people used to do when the workplace was populated with adults.
I’m glad the right seems to have realized that apologizing to the Left is like asking for more abuse. Let them apologize to us when they stop pushing their horrible politics.
I also thought Ellen was funny back in the day, before she “came out.” I’ve never liked daytime talk shows, so I haven’t seen much of her lately.
Tolkien Orcs are anti-gay.
It is kind of interesting all this comes out after she appears with GWB – AKA The Enemy. It’s hard to tell if it’s an organized effort to get her, or if the accusations have merit.
GWB isn’t the enemy anymore. If she associated with Trump, we know that something would come out attacking her.
That might have been an impetus for some, but some of them could care less whom they are canceling as long as they get another scalp.
How much of this is about an insane crusade for justice and how much of this is about the desire of man to dominate man?
My sentiments exactly, Jim. Thanks for coming right out with it. This is the kind of sentiment that got me disowned by my sister and her family.
Meh. I’ve disowned family for arguably less.
She should be free to do what it is she does. I won’t watch her TV show. I won’t attend her appearances at comedy clubs. But maybe if she isn’t free to do those things, I won’t be either.
Cancel culture delenda est.
Perci,
True enough. However, I just can’t get the slightest bit enthused. Lots of other people who have been treated unfairly need attention. The recent Twitter banning of Brightbart is much more directly threatening.
Regards,
Jim
Just as “the conversation” is never a conversation.
“Conversation” is “Shut up while I tell you how it’s going to be.”
0.01% : 99.99%
As usual in human affairs.
“Easily wounded bodyguard” might not be the most effective way to market yourself.
From your lips to Morpheus’ ear.
I am always happiest when I remember that celebrities are there to entertain me when they’re performing and that they are properly disregarded when they are doing anything else. Some are good people, some are bad people, but none of them are my people.
This is probably the healthiest approach.