DeGeneres will discuss the decision on Thursday’s show with guest Oprah Winfrey
PRETORIA, May 12 (ANA) – United States talk show host Ellen DeGeneres will end her talk show after 19 years, entertainment news website Hollywood Reporter reported on Wednesday.
DeGeneres will discuss the decision on Thursday’s show with guest Oprah Winfrey, the entertainment publication said.
“As great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge any more,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
According to the BBC, the announcement comes just months after the show faced accusations that it was a toxic place to work.
This led to three senior producers losing their jobs and DeGeneres opening the current season with an on-air apology.
The British broadcaster said the show’s ratings have been declining in recent years.
DeGeneres, 63, went on to say that last year’s allegations that the show’s workplace was dominated by fear had not been a factor in her decision to pull the plug.
“If I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season,” the BBC quoted DeGeneres saying.
Broadcaster said she however, admitted that it destroyed her to see everything she stood for being attacked.
“I was going to stop after season 16. That was going to be my last season and they wanted to sign for four more years and I said I’d sign maybe for one.
“They were saying there was no way to sign for one. ‘We can’t do that with the affiliates and the stations need more of a commitment.
“So, we [settled] on three more years and I knew that would be my last. That was the plan all along,’’ DeGeneres was quoted saying.
“Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that truly great things never will,” Mike Darnell, Warner Bros Unscripted TV President, told Hollywood Reporter.
“It was the hardest show we’ve ever had to launch in the history of our company,” Darnell was quoted saying.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay
