Ellen under fire
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NEW YORK -- Comedian Ellen DeGeneres scrapped plans to tape her syndicated talk show here next week after the Writers Guild of America, East vowed to protest her decision to return to work during the writers strike.
Laura Mandel, a spokeswoman for Telepictures Productions, which produces ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ declined to say whether the change of plans was related to the guild’s threat.
‘We’re taping shows during a fluid situation. We made the best decision for our show,’ she said.
DeGeneres usually tapes the show in Los Angeles. Had she come to New York she probably would have encountered forceful criticism from the guild, which last week lambasted her decision to cross the picket line after sitting out a day in solidarity with her striking writers.
The WGA East suggested that she could be in violation of guild rules by writing material during the strike, but her representatives said that hosts were allowed to perform their own material.
-- Matea Gold