Warner Bros. executives addressed the allegations Thursday towards executives at TMZ and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” made by quite a few former and present workers.
“I’m each involved and upset by public stories relating to patterns of unacceptable habits which have been raised in latest weeks,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar advised employees in an electronic mail, in accordance with BuzzFeed News.
Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff spoke out in regards to the difficulty in a memo, saying she “empowered, and can maintain accountable, the Studios and Networks HR and Legal groups to behave on any points which are delivered to them. These teams are a protected harbor the place you’ll be able to register any considerations.”
These statements come after dozens of allegations have been made, together with of verbal abuse, racism and sexism within the TMZ newsroom, in addition to sexual harassment and misconduct and general toxicity behind the scenes at “Ellen.”
One present worker advised BuzzFeed that TMZ co-founder Harvey Levin and different Warner Bros. executives haven’t addressed the workers’ considerations, expressing that staffers really feel they aren’t being taken significantly.
The worker got here ahead after Bernadette Zilio, a former TMZ and TooFab worker, filed a lawsuit towards the information outlet, claiming she was fired after complaining about sexism.
Zilio labored for the web sites between 2015 and 2020, and described the work setting as “100% a bro fest,” likening it to a frat home in papers she filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Los Angeles. She was fired in February.
A spokesperson for TMZ advised BuzzFeed the claims have been “a blatant try to make use of unfavorable publicity and inaccurate claims to pressure TooFab and TMZ to pay a financial settlement.”
“TMZ has a historical past of doing this — sweeping issues underneath the rug and considering that the information will transfer on to one thing else,” a present worker anonymously advised BuzzFeed.
Kilar included in his message that it is going to be a requirement to all present and potential companions “that folks be handled with dignity … Our intention [is] to sever ties the place patterns of habits are at odds with that requirement.”
These messages additionally come days earlier than “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is scheduled to start a brand new season.
Three senior producers on the show — Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman — have been fired in August following the allegations.
In response, DeGeneres is increasing perks for her workers, together with elevated paid break day and birthdays off. She wrote in an apology memo that she hopes to “right” the problems in regards to the habits on her show, and plans to handle the habits along with her viewers when her show returns Sept. 21.
Kilar additionally claimed Warner Bros. is involving a 3rd celebration to objectively overview odd patterns of habits of their productions.
Source: nypost.com
