A radio host said he was given specific instructions for working with Ellen DeGeneres: 'You don't talk to her, you don't approach her'

• An Australian radio host said on Tuesday that he was given specific instructions when he worked with Ellen DeGeneres in 2013.
• Neil Breen said that when he was the executive producer of the "Today" show in Australia, he once worked with DeGeneres for a segment.
• Breen said "Ellen Show" producers told him: "No one's to talk to Ellen. So you don't talk to her, you don't approach her, you don't look at her."
• "I don't know whether she's a nice person or not. I wouldn't have a clue," Breen said. "But I can tell you the people who worked with her walked on eggshells the whole time."

An Australian radio host said on Tuesday that he was given specific instructions about how to behave when he worked with Ellen DeGeneres in 2013.

During a segment on his radio show, "4BC Breakfast," Neil Breen said he worked as an executive producer on Australia's "Today" show at the time.

Breen said DeGeneres agreed to do an interview in Melbourne, where Breen and his crew had to fly ("at our expense") to tape the segment.

"Originally she was going to cohost the 'Today' show, then she was going to do this, then she was going to do that," he said. "And the whole thing got watered down to Ellen DeGeneres would do a sit-down interview."

Richard Wilkins, an Australian TV presenter, was set to interview DeGeneres — but Breen said he and the rest of his team received a very specific set of rules for working with her.

"Because it's 'The Ellen Show,' they controlled everything," Breen said. "They controlled the interview seats, the lights, how it would work, everything."

He added: "The producers called us aside and said, 'OK, this is how it's going to work here this morning. Ellen's going to arrive at 10:15, and she'll be sitting in this chair here, and Richard, you'll be sitting in this chair here.'"

Breen said DeGeneres' team then told him: "Neil, no one's to talk to Ellen. So you don't talk to her, you don't approach her, you don't look at her. She'll come in, she'll sit down, she'll talk to Richard, then Ellen will leave."

"I found the whole thing bizarre," Breen said. He also said that with "every word" DeGeneres said, her team would "giggle and laugh" — so much so that he had to tell them to be quiet since they were taping an interview.

"I'm not blaming Ellen, because I didn't get to talk to her, because I wasn't allowed to," he said. "So I don't know whether she's a nice person or not. I wouldn't have a clue. But I can tell you the people who worked with her walked on eggshells the whole time."

It's been a turbulent few months for the host, whose show is the focus of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia over allegations of a "toxic" work environment.

In June, Twitter users accused DeGeneres of being hypocritical and vague in her messages about racial justice. And in May, a former bodyguard for the host said his experience with her was "kind of demeaning."

• Read more:
• Why 2020 has been the year of backlash against Ellen DeGeneres
• A former bodyguard for Ellen DeGeneres said his experience with the host was 'kind of demeaning'
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• 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' is under internal investigation by WarnerMedia over workplace culture