EXCLUSIVE: The Brutal Rumor That Means Ellen DeGeneres Will NEVER Be Able to Resurrect Her Dead TV Career
The rumor may end Ellen DeGeneres' comeback before it even started.
Oct. 20 2025, Published 4:45 p.m. ET
A brutal rumor is crushing Ellen DeGeneres' hopes of reviving her once-glittering television career – that she stopped a staffer from leaving work to deal with her daughter's bone marrow transplant operation, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 67-year-old former talk show host, who quit Hollywood last year to live quietly with wife Portia de Rossi, 52, on a sprawling 10,000-square-foot farm in the Cotswolds, England, is said to be "devastated" after the story reignited claims about her alleged cruelty toward staff.
'The Rumors Has Spread Like Wildfire'
DeGeneres may never be able to save her TV career.
Despite retreating to the English countryside to "let the dust settle," insiders say DeGeneres has privately been plotting a career comeback. But the latest scandal, they warn, has made that impossible.
"The rumor has spread like wildfire and refuses to go away," said a source close to the former Ellen DeGeneres Show team. "People are saying she once stopped a staff member from leaving work to handle her daughter's bone marrow transplant. Whether it's exaggerated or not, it's landed like a bombshell and has stuck in producers' minds.
"The whole of Hollywood seems to remember it, and every time Ellen floats ideas about getting back on screens, it comes up in meetings and she is snubbed. Ellen knows how damaging it looks – heartless, cold, and completely indefensible. She's fuming that this could ruin her chances forever."
What Is The Rumor?
The former TV star is being accused of forcing a mother to reschedule her child's surgery.
The allegations were first made by a former cameraman who worked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for nearly a decade. He claimed the host made "unthinkable demands" on her team – including asking a mother to reschedule her child's surgery to fit around the show's production schedule.
"The kid had a major surgery – like a bone marrow transplant," he claimed. "It was asked of this particular person if the kid's 'thing' was the same week as the Christmas holiday week."
He also alleged DeGeneres would intimidate staff with a single glare, describing it as "like a queen looking for her next execution." The comments sparked a fresh online backlash, with one critic calling her "loathsome" and another branding her behavior "heartless."
The scandal comes weeks after DeGeneres admitted in a live interview with British broadcaster Richard Bacon she had grown "a little bored" with life in the countryside and missed performing. "I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens, but I'm a little bit bored," she confessed.
Comeback Now Over?
DeGeneres is said to be reaching out to industry contacts for a comeback.
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Insiders say the confession was part of a soft launch for a Hollywood return – a plan now in tatters.
"She's been reaching out to former industry contacts and feeling cautiously optimistic," said another source. "With talk that Kelly Clarkson might scale back her show, Ellen saw an opening she thought she could step into. But this new scandal has blown that apart – she knows a story like this makes her radioactive.
"No network is going to gamble on her now."
Former staffers previously accused DeGeneres of creating a toxic work environment, alleging bullying, intimidation and discrimination. But this latest rumor – tying her name to a child's medical crisis – has been described by insiders as "the final nail."
DeGeneres' wife, Portia de Rossi, is said to be urging the star to forget about Hollywood.
"Ellen knows full well how disastrous this is," said one industry source. "She's furious, moody, and taking it out on everyone around her. Portia's the only one who can soothe her, but even she's worn down by it.
"The rest of Ellen's circle has completely lost patience with her endless self-pity."
According to those close to the couple, de Rossi has encouraged her wife to focus on her new life in Britain, but DeGeneres remains obsessed with redemption.
"She keeps insisting that her legacy can't end with people seeing her as cruel or toxic," the insider said. "She's totally convinced she's been unfairly targeted. But the reality is, whenever she starts to make progress, another story surfaces and pulls her right back down."
