Ellen DeGeneres has not been having a great year. After complaints from workers on The Ellen Show, dozens of former employees came forward to talk about what they reported as a toxic workplace, rife with racial discrimination, and various forms of sexual misconduct, along with reports surfacing that DeGeneres herself was far from the queen of nice she'd shown us on TV for so many years. Recently, DeGeneres announced that she would leave her once extremely popular daytime talk show behind after Season 19, and now it looks like she's planning to do whatever she wants to do for that last year as host.
The Ellen Show is still rolling along in Season 18, with one more to go for veteran talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. While she's spoken out a lot about having to fire several of her top executives after those allegations came out last summer, and other behind the scenes issues, it would seem that DeGeneres in now ready to enjoy her freedom from the Emmy-winning daytime hit, as she just offered Insecure star and comedian Yvonne Orji a shot at guest hosting in Season 19.
DeGeneres had Orji on Ellen to promote her new book, and in the interview said:
I just say yes, because I heard you want to be a talk show host. And I just say yes to that. Why wouldn't you want to do that?...There's gonna be an opening. I got one more year, I'm not going away right now...I think that's good to put it out there, because manifestation is how you do it...Next year, I'd like you to guest host for me. Try it out; see how it feels.
Wow, right? Ellen DeGeneres got right down to business when speaking with Yvonne Orji, and basically started her interview by co-signing her desire to host a talk show, which Orji said she's wanted to do for a long time because "I want to give away free stuff," among other amazing reasons. DeGeneres also approved Orji's willingness to open up about her career plan, and ended the interview by offering her the chance to try out her dream during Season 19.
And, Orji was clearly thrilled, which you can tell from the full clip, below:
It's not every day that talk show hosts, daytime or not, are this free with opportunities to give other hopefuls a leg up by telling them publicly that they can step in to co-host. But, as we know, Ellen DeGeneres really has nothing to lose now. When she announced that she was stepping down after next season, it had been after over a year of bad publicity, controversy, and behind the scenes investigations into those serious allegations.
In addition, even though DeGeneres apologized to employees for everything that had gone on backstage and talked to her fans about it, Season 18 has not gone so well for the star. While pretty much every talk show has faced a downturn in eyeballs with things being done much different during these very challenging times, The Ellen Show has been hemorrhaging viewers since the premiere, which still netted strong enough numbers as people tuned in to see what DeGeneres would say about all of the trouble surrounding her show.
Hopefully, we will get to see Yvonne Orji try out her hosting skills on The Ellen Show next season, and also get to watch as Ellen DeGeneres continues to do whatever she wants with the remainder of her daytime series.
