Modern Family star Sofia Vergara has defended embattled talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, 62, and insisted that she wasn’t a “victim”. The 48-year-old took to Twitter on August 21 and attempted to clear the air after a video of Ellen making fun of her heavily-accented English went viral. “Two comedians having fun with each other to entertain,” she captioned the clip of her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Sofia then added, “I was never a victim guys. I was always in on the joke.” The daytime TV host, who has come under fire in recent months amid allegations that she fostered a toxic work environment backstage, poked fun at Sofia’s English speaking skills during multiple tapings. This clip showed the duo discussing their 2015 CoverGirl commercials together. “They give her the hardest lines too because we have to describe what’s in the CoverGirl makeup and she has such a hard time pronouncing any of the ingredients,” Ellen joked in the now viral snippet.
It comes just days after she delivered a new apology to her staff via video chat. A source close to the longtime TV personality said that she was “interested in righting a wrong” and made that clear during her August 17 apology. “She was emotional but emphatic about creating a culture where people feel good, noting that employees need to feel happy in order to make a show that makes people happy,” sources told our sister site, Deadline. Earlier that day, it was revealed that executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman had been axed, along with co-executive producer Jonathan Norman.
The show’s house DJ , Stephen “tWitch” Boss, was also promoted to co-executive producer while current executive producers Mary Connelly, Andy Lassner and Derek Westervelt will continue working on the show. Allegations about the work culture at the show first surfaced in July 2020. “DeGeneres vowed to interact more with her staffers, revealing that she was shocked to find out that people on the show had been told to avoid eye contact with her. She encouraged staffers to talk to her,” the Deadline author, Nellie Andreeva, also claimed.