Ellen DeGeneres says the decision to end her NBC show isn't related to former staffers' allegations

• Ellen DeGeneres's eponymous talk show's 19th and final season will air in 2022.
• The news follows months of allegations about the host's behavior and the show's work environment.
• DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter that her decision isn't related to the accusations.

Ellen DeGeneres announced plans to end her long-running NBC talk show after its 19th season in 2022, explaining that current and former staffers' allegations about her behavior and the show's "toxic" work environment didn't play a role in her decision.

"It almost impacted the show. It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn't have come back this season," the 63-year-old comedian told The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.

She said exiting after season 19 has "been the plan all along."

"I'm a creative person, and when you're a creative person you constantly need to be challenged," she said, continuing, "And as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore. I need something new to challenge me."

DeGeneres opened season 18 in September with a widely-watched apology for the toxic workplace accusations that current and former employees made months prior.

The New York Times reported that the show has since lost over a million viewers, averaging 1.5 million viewers over the six months compared to the 2.6 million from the same period the year prior, according to the research firm Nielsen.

Many attribute the once-beloved daytime television show's plummeting ratings to the intense stream of backlash DeGeneres faced throughout 2020.

In February 2020, former guest Nikkie de Jager spoke about her negative experience with the host during her visit to "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," describing DeGeneres as "cold and distant."

The following month, comedian Kevin T. Porter tweeted that DeGeneres is "notoriously one of the meanest people alive" and asked people to share the "most insane stories" they had heard about her. The thread received over 2,000 responses.

That April, anonymous sources told Variety that crew members were "distressed" after receiving no written information about "the status of their working hours, pay, or inquiries about their mental and physical health" for over a month during the pandemic.

Current and former staffers also said they faced "racism, fear, and intimidation" while working at "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in a report Buzzfeed published in July. WarnerMedia then launched an internal investigation into the show.

Though DeGeneres penned a letter (obtained by The Hollywood Reporter) to staffers in July saying she was "disappointed to learn" that people didn't feel respected or happy on set, she didn't address the personal complaints about her behavior.

According to the comedian, she thought the criticism would blow over.

"I was sitting at home, it was summer, and I see a story that people have to chew gum before they talk to me and I'm like, 'Okay, this is hilarious.' Then I see another story of some other ridiculous thing and then it just didn't stop," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

DeGeneres added, "I wasn't working, so I had no platform, and I didn't want to address it on [Twitter] and I thought if I just don't address it, it's going to go away because it was all so stupid."

The Emmy-winning host said she learned of the allegations regarding the work environment through the press rather than being told directly.

"At first I didn't believe it because I know how happy everybody is here and how every guest talks about, 'Man, you have a great place here. Of all the talk shows I've done, everyone here is so happy.' That's all I've ever heard," she said.

DeGeneres said the results from the internal investigation served as a wake-up call, explaining that she now tries to make herself available for any questions or concerns from different departments.

"I'm not a scary person. I'm really easy to talk to," she said. "So, we've all learned from things that we didn't realize - or I didn't realize - were happening. I just want people to trust and know that I am who I appear to be."