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Megyn Kelly again criticized Ellen DeGeneres during the July 15 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, repeating a contested allegation that production workers had been told not to make eye contact with the former daytime television host.
Kelly discussed DeGeneres with comedian and podcast host Adam Carolla as part of a broader conversation about celebrities whose reported behavior away from cameras allegedly conflicts with their public personas. The episode’s published description referred to “the gap” between DeGeneres’s on-screen image and accounts concerning her treatment of employees.
The discussion revived allegations that became part of the wider controversy surrounding The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2020. The particular claim about eye contact, however, has not been verified, and DeGeneres previously denied that any such rule existed.
Kelly Repeats a Secondhand Account
Kelly said the eye-contact allegation had reached her through a relative of a person who reportedly worked on DeGeneres’s production team.
“You were not allowed to look Ellen in the eye if you were on her production staff,” Kelly said.
Kelly recognized that television employees may occasionally be instructed not to distract or approach a host immediately before filming so the performer can remain focused. She argued that an across-the-board restriction on eye contact, if one existed, would be materially different and inappropriate.
Kelly then described DeGeneres as a “monster.” The comment reflected Kelly’s personal response to the secondhand account rather than a finding based on direct experience or independently verified evidence.
Kelly did not identify the employee involved or provide records or other supporting material showing that the alleged instruction had been an official workplace policy.
DeGeneres Previously Denied the Allegation
The original version of the article did not include DeGeneres’s previous response to the no-eye-contact allegation.
When comparable claims circulated during the program’s 2020 workplace controversy, DeGeneres reportedly called the suggestion that employees and guests were prohibited from looking at her “crazy” and “not true.” She nonetheless issued a broader apology to employees who believed they had been ignored, disrespected or treated improperly.
DeGeneres’s representatives should be approached for a current response to Kelly’s July 2026 remarks. If they do not respond before publication, the report should make clear that a request for comment was submitted.
What Adam Carolla Said
Carolla argued that DeGeneres’s upbeat television persona did not align with stories he had encountered concerning her alleged behavior behind the scenes.
The July 2026 discussion was not the first occasion on which Carolla had addressed the subject. During a 2025 interview, he recalled appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2012 and said a segment producer repeatedly warned him not to mention meat because DeGeneres was vegan at the time.
Carolla interpreted the producer’s anxious manner as an indication that members of the staff were intimidated by DeGeneres. He also conceded that DeGeneres had not treated him rudely during his appearance.
Carolla further said that an unnamed former writer had spoken about DeGeneres in extremely negative terms. Because the writer was not identified and the account has not been independently confirmed, it should be characterized as an allegation rather than evidence establishing DeGeneres’s behavior.
Carolla’s unrelated comment that DeGeneres did not dance at a wedding has been excluded from this version. Whether a guest chooses to dance offers no meaningful evidence regarding workplace conduct or personal character.
The 2020 Workplace Controversy
In July 2020, current and former staff members accused The Ellen DeGeneres Show of fostering a workplace environment involving intimidation, racial insensitivity and fear of retaliation. Several accusations focused on senior producers rather than actions personally taken by DeGeneres. WarnerMedia later launched an internal investigation.
Three senior producers subsequently left the show following allegations of misconduct. Warner Bros. confirmed their departures, and the production announced measures intended to address and improve the workplace environment.
DeGeneres responded to the controversy during the opening monologue of the show’s 18th season. She acknowledged that incidents had occurred that should not have happened, apologized to employees who had been affected and accepted that her position of authority carried responsibility.
“This is The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” she said during the monologue. “I am Ellen DeGeneres.”
The program remained on the air until May 2022 and concluded after 19 seasons. DeGeneres maintained that ending the show had been planned in advance and resulted from her interest in pursuing a different creative challenge, rather than from the workplace allegations.
DeGeneres Addressed the Backlash Again
DeGeneres revisited the controversy in her 2024 Netflix stand-up special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval.
Netflix promoted the special as featuring DeGeneres discussing her life after being “kicked out of show business.” During the performance, she joked about the public belief that she was mean and considered the personal and professional consequences of the backlash.
The stand-up performance did not independently settle the workplace claims, but it represented her most recent substantial public discussion of the controversy.
Claims That Were Removed
The earlier version of the article contained extensive allegations made by an anonymous former household employee who spoke with the Daily Mail in 2020.
Those accusations have been excluded because the source was not publicly identified, the most serious claims lacked independent corroboration and the allegations were not directly relevant to Kelly’s latest remarks.
An older television segment in which DeGeneres joked about photographs taken from employees’ social-media pages has also been left out of the central report. Although the segment is authentic, it does not, without statements from the employees concerned, independently demonstrate that they regarded the jokes as humiliating or abusive.
What Is Established and What Remains Disputed
It is confirmed that Kelly criticized DeGeneres during her July 15 conversation with Carolla and repeated an allegation that employees had been barred from making eye contact with her.
It is also confirmed that The Ellen DeGeneres Show was subject to an internal workplace investigation in 2020, that three senior producers departed and that DeGeneres publicly apologized for problems connected with the production.
What has not been independently verified is whether DeGeneres established or enforced an official no-eye-contact policy. She has previously denied the allegation.
That distinction remains critical. Kelly and Carolla may express their views and describe accounts they say were shared with them, but a news report should not present those secondhand stories as established facts concerning DeGeneres.
