Ellen Not Coming to New York
November 16, 2007

She might be one of the most popular personality on daytime talk show television, but Ellen DeGeneres can't fight the Writers Guild of America and their striking unions no matter where she goes. Already a target of the WGA for continuing her show during the strike, Ellen DeGeneres managed to avoid a much more heated debate by scrapping plans to tape her show in New York City next week.

Originally, The Ellen DeGeneres Show had plans to tape in New York City on Monday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 20. However, after some vocal protests by the Writers Guild of America East, it was announced that the show would stick to the West Coast and wouldn't head out to New York. Laura Mandel, a spokesperson for Telepictures Productions, the company that produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show, simply stated that, "We're taping shows during a fluid situation. We made the best decision for our show." Mandel did not specify whether the protests from the WGA East had influenced their decision or not

Ellen DeGeneres has found herself in the middle of this on-going TV strike, as she is a member of the WGA, but also a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which is not currently in a work stoppage. As a result, Ellen DeGeneres walked off the job for the first day of the writers' strike, then headed back to work the following day. That was used as ammunition against Ellen by the WGA East, who also took a swipe at the daytime talk show host for her impassioned outburst after a dog she once owned, Iggy, was reclaimed by an animal rescue organization. The Los Angeles Times quoted the WGA, which stated, "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day."

WGA East president Michael Winship stated that his guild is delighted that Ellen DeGeneres has agreed to cancel show tapings in New York for next week. Winship stated, "She knows that the Writers Guild East would have been there to protest her lack of solidarity not only with her Guild writing staff, but all the striking members of the Writers Guild, of which she is a member." Winship added that, "We will be even more delighted if she does not cross the Guild picket lines at the NBC Studios in Burbank [Calif.], where her show usually is produced."

Though writers have been very critical of Ellen DeGeneres' choice to stay on the air through the strike, there are other factors at play for the host. M&C quoted Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood, who noted that "Ellen said she supports her writers but returned to work because of a) her crew and b) her company, which ordered her to, and c) a no-strike clause in her AFTRA contract."