Ellen DeGeneres thanks 'amazing' staff after winning People's Choice Award despite controversy

• Ellen DeGeneres won best daytime talk show at the People's Choice Awards on Sunday night and dedicated the win to her "amazing" staff and crew.
• "I am not only accepting this award for myself, I'm accepting it on the behalf of my amazing crew, my amazing staff who make this show possible. They show up every single day, they give 100 percent of themselves, 100 percent of the time," she said.
• DeGeneres' win comes after a summer of controversy surrounding the "Ellen Show" after several ex-staffers made allegations of bullying and discrimination on the show.

Ellen DeGeneres paid tribute to her "amazing" staffers at the 2020 E! People's Choice Awards on Saturday night after a summer of controversy surrounding the workplace culture on her show.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, from deep down in my heart," she said during her acceptance speech for the Best Daytime Talk Show award.

"I am not only accepting this award for myself I'm accepting it on the behalf of my amazing crew, my amazing staff who make this show possible. They show up every single day, they give 100 percent of themselves, 100 percent of the time."

She continued: "That's 250 people times 170 shows a year times 18 years, and if you carry the two and divide it by 11 ... my point is I love them all. And I thank them for what they do every single day to help that show be the best that we try to make it every single day."

For much of her 17-year daytime career, Ellen DeGeneres, 62, had been beloved for her friendly and funny public demeanor. But earlier this summer, she was embroiled in controversy as allegations of racial discrimination, sexual misconduct, and bullying were made by former "Ellen Show" staffers.

Hedda Muskat, a former "Ellen" producer, told The Wrap that there was a "culture of fear" on the show, and during a radio interview, an anonymous ex-staffer compared the environment on the show to Meryl Streep's ruthless fashion comedy-drama "The Devil Wears Prada."

The show's distributors Telepictures and Warner Bros. Television subsequently launched an investigation, and in response to the allegations, three top producers were fired.

On her first return to the show after an extended summer vacation due to the pandemic, Ellen addressed the allegations and apologized.

"As you may have heard, this summer there were accusations of a toxic work environment at our show, and then there was an investigation," she said. "I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected."

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