Ellen DeGeneres Tests Positive for COVID-19

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Syndicated talk show shuts down production until January

Ellen DeGeneres hosts her syndicated talk show.
Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for coronavirus. (Image credit: The Ellen DeGeneres Show/YouTube)

Talk-show host and producer Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for coronavirus, she tweeted and posted on Instagram on Thursday. As a result, production on her Warner Bros.-produced syndicated talk show will be shut down until January, according to a spokesman.

Ellen averaged a 1.3 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, in the Thanksgiving week ended Nov. 29. That was up 18% from the prior week, although still down 35% compared to last year at this time.

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Over the summer, DeGeneres and executive producers on the show were confronted with constant stories about toxicity, racism and sexism on the show’s set, over which Warner Bros. conducted an internal investigation and fired three executive producers. DeGeneres has said she is committed to improving the situation as the show continues with season 18. 

RELATED: Ellen DeGeneres Opens Season 18 With an Apology

Ellen is renewed on stations across the country through the 2021-22 television season. 

RELATED: ‘Ellen DeGeneres’ Renewed Through 2021-22 Season

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.