News coming out of the space of well-loved American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is pretty sad, It is even sadder that the pay off on her programme is “Be kind to one another” and from her end, people have described her as mean and enabling a toxic workplace where people have been treated very badly, guests to the show inclusive.
A few of her friends have stood by her but former workers, employees and star guests have talked about her really terrible behaviour on the set of her show. More and more stories are coming out about how she portrayed a nice person on television and she switched to becoming a near monster when the cameras stop rolling.
Only this week, workers in her residence are allegedly describing the high turnover of domestic staff because Ellen was simply difficult to work for. They describe bizarre hidings of matchboxes all over the house numbering sometimes eight or more just to check if staff were cleaning well enough and if you missed it then you were in for it. Others still added that if she did not like the way you looked at her, then you were gone or in some cases, they allege that some security staff were fired simply because Ellen did not like the way they walked. It has been a deluge for Ellen and the studio she works for is investigating a lot of this.
Public relations companies have been hired to see if it can be fixed while industry pundits are speculating that Ellen may never recover from this terrible blow to her image and the much-loved show. I enjoyed a couple of editions of The Ellen DeGeneres show myself and I thought she was funny and witty and more authentic than most talk shows. Being both in front of the camera and behind it myself, I can see how easy it is to lose sight of reality with all the fawning that goes on around major celebrities around the world. Agents, handlers, managers and hangers on tend to tell them that they are beyond reproach and they go on to become these people that believe they are “Demi-Gods” with internet comes narcissism and they live for ratings especially in the western world.
Most celebrities start off very young, It is who manages them then that helps them settle into this new place of flash and pizzazz
As long as content benefits the sales, high ratings and marketing push, then it does not matter who is thrown under the bus. A lot of the times even where there is constructive criticism, they are shielded from it and they never think they can do any wrong. As the years roll in and success becomes a thing, it no longer matters how any one feels, It is all about them. Ellen’s unfortunate story now making the rounds on the internet should be a lesson to many celebrities.
The thing most fans are looking for is authenticity. Many of Ellen’s accusers describe her as being double-faced; kind on set and mean off set. The best answer to celebrity authenticity is to be yourself and hold your wholesome values true. Often times this works until the money begins to roll in and you can buy whatever you want, order people around and throw a true star-studded tantrum.
These unfortunate characteristics of celebrity bad behaviour are as true in Atlanta as it is in Lagos. From musicians to actresses to the socialites whose only role in entertainment is to tell us their life stories on a daily basis like “the Kardashians”. Everything is fair game in reality and non-reality entertainment. There are those hangers on whose job is to enable other tantrum enhancing events and activities like binge-shopping and drug use as well as alcohol-induced tantrums along with abusive language.
But what celebrities, super and over the top cognoscenti as well as aspiring celebrities need is a sure-footed manager at the onset who knows his onions and who can manage the star, whose advice is respected. Reading one of Majek Fashek’s buddy give an interview only recently about how Majek Fashek never had a manager but was a difficult person to manage anyway broke my heart. Whatever happens, managers and handlers of aspiring stars with prospects must put them through training on discipline, time management, tantrum and anger management, substance abuse abstinence and moderate drinking. Other things to train them on is public speaking, media management, wardrobe solutions and relationship management.
Guess what social media management is so key that a star who is loved and adored can destroy their ascendancy in one fell swoop by an ill-advised drunk induced tweet. Paris Hilton heiress to the Hilton wealth says the sex tape she released years ago was as a result of her immaturity etcetera etcetera. Handlers need to take courses on celebrity management. In this age of online everything, keeping the fingers off the social media button can be a herculean task. Those parties, those exhibitions, those events where other celebrities think it’s their time to behave badly need extra management especially in these times where everything is shareable.
Most celebrities start off very young. It is who manages them then that helps them settle into this new place of flash and pizzazz. We all know what happened to Britney Spears. Look around you, a lot of our stars in Nigeria are also thinking they have “blown” and are now beyond reproach.
But more importantly, Oga and Madam superstar, what are your values, who are you? Before you became a star, were you disrespectful? You can train yourself to be calm and better behaved wherever you go. We love your talent, a true and rare gift, but in this new world where everyone is selling nudity, what authentic thing are you frontloading?
Give us values, give us freshness, give us authenticity. We would love you forever. Managers pay attention. Our stars need to be better managed. I wished I had some time to follow through on my plan to teach celebrity management in its authentic form. It is so badly needed now that will be the day!
