Ellen DeGeneres' Fiery Feud With Gordon Ramsay Revealed: Why TV's 'Queen of Mean' Banned The Iconic Chef From Her Show Before Being Axed Over 'Toxic Bullying' Scandal
Ellen DeGeneres banned Gordon Ramsay from her talk show for eight years after he made a comment about the quality of her food.
Sept. 5 2025, Published 1:45 p.m. ET
A former longtime cameraman on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show claimed the "Queen of Mean" banned celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay from her show in 2010 after he gave a candid reaction during a food demo, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Mercurial DeGeneres, 67, was so furious by the tiny slight about the taste of a meat item that she blackballed Ramsay, 58, forbidding him to appear on Ellen for eight years that followed. The show came to an end in 2022 amid the myriad of bullying allegations lobbed at the comedian by current and former staffers.
Banned From Show
Ramsay was critical about a piece of meat on the show, causing DeGeneres to ban him, according to a source..
"He gave her some quip. They were doing a food test together, and Ellen offered him a sample first," the ex-staffer recalled to the Daily Mail. "As soon as he bit in, he said, 'This is rubbish. This is disgusting.' She didn't like the reaction. It was about eight seasons before he came back."
Ironically, The Ellen Show's YouTube channel shared the cooking segment with a never-before-seen clip in February 2023, despite the show ending its run in May 2022. It featured Ramsay slicing his finger while chopping vegetables, giving the long-lost moment new life. However, it did not include the Hell's Kitchen star's slight about the meat.
"Gordon Ramsay really put his blood, sweat, and tears into this stir fry," the caption read. "Ellen recently found the archived Season 7 of her show, which has never been streamed on the internet! Tune in daily to watch the unseen footage from 2009 to 2010."
The pair seemed to get along well, as DeGeneres showed concern about Ramsay's bleeding appendage, and he managed to soldier on and finish up his recipe.
'No Loyalty to Staff'
Former staffers have come forward with nightmare stories about their ex boss.
Ramsay wasn't the only victim of DeGeneres' wrath, according to the new piece.
A high-ranking producer allegedly had to reschedule his child's transplant surgery due to the host getting angry that it was taking place during the busy holiday season.
"The kid had a major surgery – like a bone marrow transplant," the source dished. "It was asked of this particular person if the kid's 'thing" fell during Christmas week.
"This was a person pretty high up. This person was asked if they could move the procedure around the Christmas holiday week, for Ellen," the former staff member claimed. "They were there on the day of the taping that week — Ellen got exactly what she wanted. It was all loyalty to the show, but no loyalty to staff."
'I Take Responsibility'
DeGeneres was forced to address her toxic workplace during Season 18's premiere.
Despite constantly telling her audience how important it was to "be kind," DeGeneres was accused of fostering a toxic workplace in a July 2020 profile, where several former and current staffers spoke out.
WarnerMedia launched an internal investigation over the claims, which targeted several top producers.
"As we've grown exponentially, I've not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I'd want them done," DeGeneres later wrote in a letter to staff. "Clearly, some didn't. That will now change, and I'm committed to ensuring this does not happen again."
When she kicked off Season 18 in September 2020, DeGeneres told viewers, "I know that I am in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show."
'I Don't Need This'
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DeGeneres quit Hollywood and moved to England following her bulling scandal.
As ratings declined after DeGeneres' sunny reputation took a major hit, the former stand-up comedian announced she would end the show after 19 seasons because she was tired of the "tsunami" of drama that had come with the bullying scandal.
"When it started, with that stupid ‘someone couldn’t look me in the eye’ or whatever the first thing was, it’s like a crest of a wave," she recalled. “Like, ‘This isn’t going to be that big of a wave.’ And then it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it was out of control. And I really, honestly, felt like, 'I don’t deserve this. I don’t need this. I know who I am. I’m a good person.'"
After ending her show, DeGeneres went on a stand-up tour and taped a Netflix special, during which she complained about having her career cancelled before leaving Hollywood and moving to England with her wife, Portia de Rossi, in November 2024.
