Ellen DeGeneres Decides to Honor Writer’s Strike

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I guess persistence and the blasting of talk-show hosts who dare cross the picket line will eventually change their minds if they know what is good for them. Ellen DeGeneres was planning on moving her talk show to New York to continue her show without a monologue. She has since backed out of the planned move to New York next week due to the back lash and the cancellation of one guest in protest.

DeGeneres has repeatedly come under heavy not-so-friendly fire in the past weeks when the Writers Guild of America East basically called her a scab for crossing the picket line and failing to show solidarity with the guild. Other talk show hosts such as Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, have shown solidarity by being out in the picket lines showing the support in person and cancelling their shows.

DeGeneres earned the wrath of the WGAE when she decided to go ahead with her production of her show even though she is a member of the Writers Guild.  Now, the guild president Michael Winship said that they were delighted that Ellen DeGeneres decided not to come to New York to tape her program. She was scheduled to tape the shows on Nov. 19 and 20 in Manhattan, but now will continue to shoot the shows from her studio in Burbank.

DeGeneres has yet to give a reason for her backing down and capitulating to the guild’s demands, but she most likely did not want to become the focal point of a high profile protest from the guild and the possibility of guests canceling their interviews.

Keri Russell was scheduled to appear on DeGeneres’s show to promote her movie August Rush, but canceled supposedly in protest of the show’s ongoing production. DeGeneres did not want a repeat of guests cancelling as her show is very popular and she would like it to remain so.

DeGeneres wanted to keep going as November is the all important sweeps periods and her major competitor, Oprah Winfrey is forging ahead with her new programming despite the strike, which incidentally, doesn’t seem to be affecting her much, maybe because Winfrey does not employ WGA members.

DeGeneres is still making enemies by keeping her show on the air, but will try to make amends when she will dedicate her November 22 show to Kanye West’s mom, Donda West, who died November 10 after cosmetic surgery. Kanye and Donda have appeared together twice on the show in the past.

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