Portia de Rossi has broken her silence on the workplace scandal enveloping her wife, Ellen DeGeneres.
On Monday, the actor expressed her support for the talk show host with an Instagram post that read: “I Stand By Ellen.”
In the post, de Rossi added this comment to supporters: “To all our fans....we see you. Thank you for your support. #stopbotattacks”
It is unknown what de Rossi meant by including the #stopbotattacks hashtag, but she was responding to a series of stories by BuzzFeed alleging rampant sexual misconduct on DeGeneres’s show and claims that employees “faced racism, fear, and intimidation” on a regular basis.
Since “be kind to each other” is a big part of DeGeneres’ brand, the talk show host later issued an apology to employees saying she was unaware of the negative work environment and promising to correct the issues.
However, former producer Hedda Muskat told The Wrap that the comedian allowed a “culture of fear” from the show’s beginning.
Muskat added that she had never seen such “toxic host” behavior and described one incident involving former executive producer Ed Glavin, who started screaming at a staffer during a meeting. Instead of saying something to stop the abuse, Muskat alleges, DeGeneres “crossed her legs up on the chair and she said, ‘Well, I guess every production needs their dog.’”
So far, de Rossi’s post has been liked more 47,000 times, though many of the comments were along the lines of a woman who noted, “Do you think those employees who are coming out and complaining are all liars?”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Portia de Rossi declared, “I Stand With Ellen.” Her message said, “I Stand By Ellen.”