Ellen DeGeneres to End Daytime Talk Show After 19 Seasons: 'It's Just Not a Challenge Anymore'

Ellen DeGeneres is saying goodbye to The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The host of the talk show confirmed on Wednesday that the program's upcoming 19th season will be the last. "When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore," DeGeneres said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

Ellen premiered on Sept. 8, 2003, and over the course of its 18 seasons has won 61 Daytime Emmy Awards. According to Forbes' Madeline Berg, who spoke with ET, DeGeneres makes an estimated $55 million a year as host of Ellen, and has an overall net worth of over $300 million. In May 2019, DeGeneres signed a three-year deal to extend her program through 2022.

"I’m excited to announce that I’ll be doing my show for three more years," the host told her audience after news broke of her multiyear contract. "Mostly because I love doing it so much every day, but also because that takes me to the end of my car lease."

DeGeneres spoke with ET that same month about when she planned on leaving the show. "[Maybe] when people kind of are tired of me, and I think I'll sense that," she said at the time. "I'll walk away really when I stop having fun. I actually don't care about the rest of the people. If I'm having fun and no one's watching, I don't care. But if I'm not having fun and everyone's watching, then I should walk away."

News of DeGeneres leaving her talk show comes less than a year after former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show claimed there was a "toxic work environment." At the time, DeGeneres apologized in a staff email and the show held a virtual staff meeting regarding the allegations.

ET previously reported that Warner Bros. Television told Ellen staffers at the time that they would be seeking the services of an independent third-party firm, which would interview current and former employees about their experiences behind the scenes on the popular daytime talk show. The investigation was set into motion after one current and 10 former employees anonymously spoke with BuzzFeed News about their experience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in an article published July 16.

ET learned that on Aug. 3, a virtual staff meeting was held for Ellen employees to update them on the current investigation into alleged workplace misconduct. On July 30, DeGeneres sent an internal letter, obtained by ET, to staffers where she affirmed that she was committed to "having conversations about fairness and justice."

"On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness -- no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect," DeGeneres wrote in part. "Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show."

The TV personality added that she was glad the problems had been brought to her attention and noted that she and Warner Bros. were taking steps to "correct the issues," pending the results of the internal investigation.

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