It’s been four years since Ellen DeGeneres faced allegations of a toxic workplace on the set of her namesake talk show. Now, the comedian’s talking about it.

She addresses the fallout in Netflix special called “For Your Approval,” out Sept. 24.

“I got kicked out of show business because I’m mean. You can’t be mean and be in show business. Yeah, they’ll kick you out. No mean people in show business. I’m out,” she says in the special.

The special was filmed as part of her “Ellen’s Last Stand” standup tour. DeGeneres said, in a California stop, that she plans to retire “after (her) Netflix special.” In an Instagram post, DeGeneres both confirmed this is her “last special,” and that she is “going to talk about it.” 

With that line, she seemed to refer to her workplace scandal and retreat from the public eye.

Indeed, DeGeneres addresses her reputation at length throughout the special. Here’s everything she says and a refresher on what spurred claims that the talk show host was “mean.”

What happened on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show?’

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” began in 2003 and ended in 2022.

Two years before the show ended, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” faced allegations of a toxic workplace, resulting in an internal investigation by Warner Media. It all started when Buzzfeed published an exposé featuring one employee and 10 former staffers of the show who spoke out about “racism, fear and intimidation” they faced behind the scenes of the show. 

DeGeneres, who used to end her show by saying “be kind to one another,” was not specifically mentioned in the article. However, many people felt that she should take responsibility as the host of the show.

DeGeneres also faced allegations that she was unkind at the same time as her show’s backstage conduct came under fire.

“The biggest common thread that everyone told me is that what goes on behind the scenes is a far cry from what the show represents in their ‘be kind’ messaging and what the show and what Ellen DeGeneres herself profits off of,” BuzzFeed entertainment editor Krystie Yandoli previously told TODAY.

DeGeneres later apologized to staff. She said she was sorry for what the show had become and that she had let it run like a machine instead of seeing staff as people, sources told TODAY at the time. 

In an interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie in 2021, DeGeneres explained that her decision to end her daytime talk show after its 19th season wasn’t motivated by the workplace scandal, adding that she had “no idea” about the employees’ unhappiness beforehand.

“I really did think about not coming back, because it was devastating. It started with attacks on me and attacking everything that I stand for and believe in and built my career around… I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy,” she said.

How Ellen DeGeneres responded to her workplace scandal in her Netflix special

The former talk show host wastes no time addressing the scandal in “For Your Approval.” With her first words, she addresses her reputation.

“A few years ago I started ending my show by saying, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Here’s the downside. I can never do anything unkind, ever, now,” she says in her opening lines.

What follows is a series of headlines and tweets about DeGeneres and behind-the-scenes work environment, including a viral tweet prompting people to respond with stories about her “being mean.” DeGeneres stands in the middle of the maelstrom.

She emerges into a cheering crowd and says, “Thank you so much. It seems like you still care.”

Her set deals with the idea of approval and being liked— as the title would imply.

“I used to say that I didn’t care what other people thought of me, and I realize now, looking back, I said that at the height of my popularity,” she adds.

DeGeneres addresses the impact the rumors had on her life .

“Yeah, you all heard I was mean. Everybody heard that I was mean. Everywhere I go, I know everyone’s heard that I’m mean. I know when I walk into a restaurant, people are watching, waiting to see if I’ll be mean. ‘Do you think she’ll be mean first and then dance?’ ‘Oh, look, she’s reaching for butter. I thought she was going to hit somebody,’” she muses.

Rather than outright disagree with allegations she was unkind, the comedian says her signature tagline from her talk show led to unrealistic expectations, turning her into a “one dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced every day up steps.”

“Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go, f— yourselves, people would have been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind,” she jokes.

DeGeneres says she first encountered rumors about her through media headlines, though didn’t say which outlet. She goes on to identify other publications later in the special. 

“Yeah, the first I heard about it, I came across a headline that said, ‘How Ellen DeGeneres became the most hated person in America.’ Now, I didn’t see the other names on the ballot, but it’s an impressive title. It really is. It’s a horrible thing to say about somebody,” she says. 

The special isn’t only about her relationship to Hollywood. It also touches on more general topics like driving (she has a rant about windshield wipers), aging (she reveals she has osteoporosis and has stopped using Botox and filler) and mental health. 

But she continues to circle back to the arc of her career. At one point, she goes back to when she came out, calling it the first time she was ousted by Hollywood — this being the second.

DeGeneres came out on the cover of TIME Magazine in 1997; her character on the sitcom “Ellen” came out, too, on a concurrent episode called “The Puppy Episode.” In the comedy special, she says the move led to “no work” for three years.

“You kicked me out before because I told him I was gay. People in show business — they kick you out. Can’t be gay and be in show business. Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old, mean, old and gay. The triple crown,” she says.

In the special, DeGeneres says rumors of her own conduct were hard to navigate and compelled her to seek therapy.

 “I was in therapy for a while trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me. And you know, it was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with. At one point, my therapist said, ‘Ellen, where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’ And I said, ‘Well, New York Times, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly. I think Elmo may have said something recently on an episode of Sesame Street,’” she says. 

 At the end of the special, she reflects on what she learned and says she freed herself from caring what other people think about her. The monologue prompted a standing ovation from the crowd.

“I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy, and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me, so the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time. But with time, you gain perspective… with perspective, you realize that caring what people think to a degree is healthy, but not if it affects your mental health,” she says. 

 DeGeneres ends the special by reflecting on what she hopes her lasting legacy will be.

“If I’m being honest, if I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who was mean or someone who was beloved… I choose that,” she says.