Television
‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ accused of being a toxic work environment
The show is under fire after several past employees shared what it was like to work on set.
‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ is being accused of fostering a toxic work environment behind the scenes.
The news comes following a report released by Rolling Stone on Friday, in which 11 employees (one current, 10 former) spoke to the outlet about their experiences on the daytime talk show.
The staffers say they were often “bullied and intimidated” by producers, to the point that it began to take a negative toil on their mental health.
“I remember going up on the roof of the stage to cry, being like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what am I doing? Why am I putting myself through this?’” one of the former workers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity like the others, told the outlet.
Another former staffer said that they visited a psychiatrist for the first time because they couldn’t handle how they were being treated.
“It deterred me from wanting to work in daytime ever again. When I say I was traumatized, I was really traumatized,” said the staffer, who called working on the show “the worst experience I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
The former employees also claim that many of them had to take on second jobs as babysitters, dog walkers and Uber Eats drivers due to their allegedly low salaries.
They also say that they shared their complaints with human resources, which resolved nothing.
Clarkson unaware of the workplace environment claim ex-staffers
As for Clarkson herself, the former employees believe she is unaware of what is going on at the workplace.
The report also states that the show’s executive producer, Alex Duda, “shields” Clarkson from the claims of her staffers.
“I think Alex Duda’s a monster,” one of the former employees stated. “I have a friend who’s an executive producer who warned me about taking this job because apparently she has done this on every show she’s worked on.”
Another added: “NBC is protecting the show because it’s their new money maker, but Kelly has no clue how unhappy her staff is.”
One ex-staffer stated that Clarkson is “fantastic”, and that she is a person who “never treats anyone with anything but dignity and is incredibly appreciative.”
“I would be shocked if she knew,” they added. “I’d be floored if she knew the staff wasn’t getting paid for two weeks of Christmas hiatus. The Kelly that I interacted with and that everyone knows would probably be pretty aghast to learn that.”
The report comes after news that ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ will move production from Los Angeles to New York City for next season. The show will air inside Rockefeller Center, where several NBC shows are filmed.