Ellen DeGeneres has faced claims that she ‘bullied’ an 11-year-old boy who she called ‘fat’ and ‘stupid’, forty years ago.
The TV presenter has been facing several claims she ignored ‘toxic’ workplace culture that allegedly exists behind the scenes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
And now she has faced a bullying claim as Louisiana man Ben Gravolet has made a series of claims against Ellen, who was working for his mother’s recruitment agency at the time, before she found fame on TV and Hollywood.
Speaking to DailyMailTV, Ben has alleged that Ellen, who was 20 at the time, would subject him to mean put-downs, mainly surrounding his weight at the time.
Ben, 52, said: “I would dread going to [my mum’s] office to see her after school or on a day if I was sick and Ellen was there.
Ellen DeGeneres has faced bullying claims (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“She would criticise my weight. I would try to do homework in the office, she’d call me stupid, she’d call me fat. She would criticise my clothes.”
Ben continued: “I was just a boy and this was a grown woman who took pleasure in seeing me become visibly upset.
“I don’t think there’s any excuse for it. I was a defenceless kid. What could I have told her back?”
Louisiana man Ben Gravolet said she called him ‘fat’ and ‘stupid’ forty years ago (Image: Facebook)
Ben said Ellen’s comments had a deep effect on him as he has always been self-conscious about his weight.
He added: “It has an effect if somebody in a superior position to you, who’s much older, goes ‘You’re fat. You might want to lose some of that weight chunky boy.'”
Ben claims that Ellen was working for the New Orleans branch of Snelling Personnel in the late 1970s, a company owned by his mother.
Ellen has been facing several claims she ignored ‘toxic’ workplace culture that allegedly exists behind the scenes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Image: Getty Images)
He said he found it difficult to watch Ellen rise to fame, with people saying what a wonderful person she was because, in his view, she was “one of the most vile people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Daily Star Online has contacted a representative of Ellen for comment.
Ellen, 62, has been hit with dozens of accusations recently about the behaviour of certain individuals in her team and that she stood by and did not stop what was happening.
Former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show spoke out to Buzzfeed about their experience and Ellen has since written to staff in a memo, in which she apologised for the workplace culture.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
