TV personality, Ellen DeGeneres, tests positive for Covid-19

Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for Covid-19, the daytime TV talk show host revealed on Thursday.

“Hi everyone, I want to let you all know that I tested positive for COVID-19,” DeGeneres, 62, wrote in a Notes app screenshot posted to her social media channels. “Fortunately, I’m feeling fine right now.”

DeGeneres also revealed that she had already notified close contacts and was “following all proper CDC guidelines”.

An insider confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that production on her show will now be paused until January.

LA County, where her show films, is continuing to see a rise in cases, with 9,243 on Wednesday, the second-highest daily total since the virus first started.

The news comes after a difficult year for the comedian, as she faced charges of turning a blind eye to alleged toxic behaviour by producers on her show. A Buzzfeed News report from July spoke to 36 anonymous employees who said the fear-based culture behind the scenes at The Ellen DeGeneres Show diverged sharply from the host’s “be kind” mantra.

Reports of DeGeneres’s alleged mean-spiritedness and backstage turmoil prompted a taped mea culpa. “If I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I am so sorry for that,” DeGeneres said at the time. “If that’s ever the case, I’ve let myself down and I’ve let myself down as well.”

DeGeneres says she’ll be ready to talk when her daytime show returns this month after a staff shake-up prompted by allegations of a toxic workplace. “I can’t wait to get back to work and back to our studio. And, yes, we’re gonna talk about it,” DeGeneres said in a statement announcing the show’s Sept. 21, 2020, start of its 18th season.

The award-winning NBC daytime show returned in September after an internal investigation into complaints of bullying, racism and sexual misconduct resulted in the exit of three top producers from the show.

This week also saw a follow-up report from Buzzfeed News that claimed advertisers and celebrities had been avoiding any association with the show after recent controversies. Ratings have also declined 37% since the last season.