Charlie Puth says Ellen DeGeneres’ record label team ‘disappeared’ after signing him
It turns out Greyson Chance wasn’t alone.
Charlie Puth has also opened up about his experience with Ellen DeGeneres’ record label — and it was not a good one.
In a recent appearance on the podcast “Rolling Stone Music Now,” the “Light Switch” singer claimed that members of DeGeneres’ now-defunct eleveneleven label vanished after he recorded his first EP.
“Not putting any blame on one person, but from a collective … all the people that were in that room, they just disappeared,” Puth said. “I didn’t hear from anybody.”
Puth first hit the music scene in 2009 after posting covers of songs to his YouTube channel. He was signed to eleveneleven after his and fellow musician Emily Luther’s cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” had an internet moment. Puth and Luther signed with eleveneleven in 2011. But by 2012, the label had dissolved.
After several reports of a toxic working environment on the set of the comedian’s show, distributor Warner Bros. has brought in consultants to examine the claims.
Puth, however, did not blame DeGeneres for his experience.
“People describe Ellen as rude,” he said. “I’ve never experienced that. Maybe she likes me.”
Puth’s comments come a few weeks after fellow musician Chance’s September claim to Rolling Stone that he was “completely abandoned” by DeGeneres.
Chance appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” after a video of him performing a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” went viral in 2010. The singer received $10,000, a new piano and was signed as the first artist to DeGeneres’ eleveneleven record label.
“I remember [DeGeneres] pulling my mom aside and saying, ‘You’re never going to have to work again a day in your life,’” Chance said. “‘I’m going to protect you. I’m going to be here for you. We’re going to do this together.’”
Battered by scandal, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” ends its 19-year run on Thursday. Its host is no longer the queer celebrity we can all agree on.
Chance claimed in the interview that DeGeneres became “really invested” in his career after the then-13-year-old picked up momentum with EPs and tour dates in late 2010, but he added that she also “became domineering and way too controlling.”
“My whole week, my whole month, my whole year could change [with] one text message from her,” Chance said. “That was horrible. ... If she had an opinion of any sort, the whole thing changed.”
The now-25-year-old singer detailed incidents when both he and his mother were berated by DeGeneres and said the host operated as the “hidden eye” over his career.
“I’ve never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered, and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” he said of DeGeneres.
When his sales began to diminish in 2012, Chance claimed his agent, publicist and entire management team disappeared and that DeGeneres ignored his calls.
“I couldn’t get ahold of her. Couldn’t talk to her,” he said.
Puth brought up Chance’s experience as he talked to Rolling Stone.
The shrieking of little girls filled the air at Staples Center when Charlie Puth took the stage last month during KIIS-FM’s annual Jingle Ball concert.
“We both have different experiences, me versus Greyson,” Puth explained. “But I do agree with him that nobody was really present, certainly after the creation of my first demo EP. I didn’t really hear from anybody after that.”
Rolling Stone reported that sources close to DeGeneres’ team say they don’t recall this happening to Puth.
Representatives for DeGeneres did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
Puth doesn’t hold much ill will over the situation, however, because he’s not convinced any of the songs he wrote for the label were worth revisiting.
“I don’t know how good they are,” he said.
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