Ellen DeGeneres kicks off 18th season of The Ellen Show with heartfelt message to fans

Maligned talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has kicked off the latest season of The Ellen Show with a sincere apology and a heartfelt plea to fans.

The comedian and actor has endured a torrid summer, with accusations from current and former employees of a toxic workplace culture on the set of her global show.

Last month, three of her producers quite the show amid sexual and racial misconduct allegations, while Channel Nine revealed it had let the Australian broadcast rights lapse for this season.

Tonight (Perth time), DeGeneres kicked off the 18th season of her talk show by lamenting the fact that she had not been able to speak earlier due to legal restrictions.

She said one of the biggest issues she had faced amid the turmoil was being tagged as the “be kind” woman.

“The truth is, I am that person that you see on TV,” she said.

“I am also a lot of other things. Sometimes I get sad, I get mad, I get anxious, I get frustrated, I get impatient, and I am working on all of that.

“I am a work in progress.”

DeGeneres said despite the fact she was a “pretty good” actor, “I don’t think that I’m that good that I could come out here every day for 17 years and fool you”.

“This is me. And my intention is to always be the best person I can be,” she said.

“And if I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I am so sorry for that.

“If that’s ever the case I’ve let myself down and I’ve hurt myself as well.”

DeGeneres said she wanted all of the 270 people who worked on set for her to be “happy and proud” to work there.

She highlighted the coronavirus pandemic, the wildfires in the US and “blatant racial injustice” as issues that were making times tough for people everywhere.

“This has been a horrible summer for people all around the world,” she said.

“So my hope is that we can still be a place of happiness and joy.

“I still want to be the one hour a day that people can go to escape and laugh.

“I want to continue to help all the people that we help every day.

“And I am committed to making this the best season that we have ever had.”