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I will try to NEVER be biased about anything without hearing all the sides of the story. When writing my rant about Ellen, it was MY opinion of the story, an amazing comedian and friend of mine Mike Rose, from Planet Unicorn and Stop It fame, sent me this letter from a close friend of his. She was a writer for Ellen on numerous amounts of projects, and just wanted to let the world know what type of person she truly is.

She says:

“First, let me say that I wish that Ellen hadn’t crossed the picket lines. I
wish that she would stop making new episodes in solidarity with her writers.
I know she is under intense pressure from her affiliates and production
companies. Her show is syndicated, and she faces challenges that her late
night compatriots do not. But these are excuses and I cannot defend her
actions against the strike.

But I can defend her character. And I feel that I must.

Ellen hired me to write for her talk show even though I had little
experience. In fact, several of her writers got their start on her show.
She’s not afraid to hire green writers. She certainly took a chance on me.
She was always patient and supportive. I never felt like she was mad or
disappointed when a first draft didn’t pop. In fact, she often told me she
was proud of me. She always challenged me to write better jokes, encouraging
me to “beat” a joke that didn’t pack a strong punch. She made me a better
writer by not settling for average. And I am grateful.

I wrote for her talk show for two seasons. I also wrote for the Oscars with
her last year. Ellen loves her writers, that’s the only reason I got to
write for the Oscars. She asked the Academy to hire me and two other staff
writers from her show, in addition to the 6 other writers already on board.
The Academy asserted that they could only pay us less than half of what they
were paying the other writers. We all agreed to do it anyway. Right after
the show, Ellen gave us each a check. She paid us the difference out of her
own pocket. She said it was only fair and thanked us.

I no longer work on the talk show; I quit at the end of last season to
pursue my career as a writer/performer. It was a difficult decision because
I really loved working for her. Ellen let me move on with grace and kindness
and support. She introduced me to her agent, her managers, and offered to
help me in whatever way she could. She wished me luck and success. I was
incredibly touched by her generosity.

When she was hiring writers for her upcoming special on TBS, I got a call. I
took the job, more than happy to write for her again. Of course, I have
stopped working on “Ellen’s Really Big Show”, because I am on strike.
I will admit that Ellen had long been a hero of mine before I ever even met
her. And I can honestly say, that after working for her for two years, she
still is. She is a kind, generous and caring person. She was wonderful to
me, and I am grateful.

Liz Feldman “

Well, on one hand, I always thought she was actually a decent person, that was never what this was about. It is simply a decision based on morals and principles. She does have a lot of things to consider, and I have no idea what decision I would take if I were in her place. Thank you Liz for your viewpoint on an otherwise nasty situation.

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I have been the biggest Ellen fan ever since I used to sneak off into my sisters room when I was 14 and watch the Ellen show after the coming out episode. I followed her after she released her amazing comedy Special ‘ The Beginning”  and then when her talk show started I never missed a-one! Now, I will no longer watch.

Ellen is continuing to film during the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild – but spoke out saying she “loves” the writers on Friday. DeGeneres opened her show sans monologue, instead giving a nod to her writers and explaining the situation to her audience.

I’m sorry Ellen, you shoot 5 shows a week, sometimes 6 when you are doing a special or catch-up episodes. Your writers room (which consist of NUMEROUS people that are now striking) make your show what it is. So when you say you are not going to do the monologue because you are supporting them, THATS BULL, you can’t do it because they aren’t there. You don’t have a choice.

“I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I’m not going to do a monologue,” she’s quoted as saying. “[But] people have traveled across the country. They’ve made plans. They’re here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show.

Honestly Ellen, I think they will find a movie at The Grove or a few pictures in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater just as entertaining. Get your head out of your dollar-signed shaped ass and support your collegues!

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