52-year-old Ben Gravolet claims he was bullied at 11 years old by Ellen Degeneres while visiting his mom’s work. Ben revealed to Daily Mail that Ellen, who was about 20 years old at the time, was an employee at his mom’s recruitment agency. He tells the outlet that Ellen “was just the meanest, nastiest, most horrible person.”
He continues, “I would dread going to [my mom’s] office to see her after school or on a day if I was sick and Ellen was there. She would criticize my weight. I would try to do homework in the office, she’d call me stupid, she’d call me fat. She would criticize my clothes. I was just a boy and this was a grown woman who took pleasure in seeing me become visibly upset.”
Ellen Degeneres accused of bullying an 11-year-old boy
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Ben continues on: “I don’t think there’s any excuse for it. I was a defenseless kid. What could I have told her back?” He says that Ellen’s words have stuck with him throughout the years and it is something he has never forgotten.
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“It has an effect if somebody in a superior position to you, who’s much older, goes ‘You’re fat. You might want to lose some of that weight chunky boy.’ I was always self-conscious about my weight and it made things worse.” He recalls one incident where he was drawing a picture next to her desk at the time. Ellen allegedly said to him at the time “I guess that would look nice if you could draw.”
Accusations causing her show to drop 29% since this time last year
‘FINDING NEMO’ PREMIERE –
EL CAPITAN THEATER, HOLLYWOOD, CA –
05/18/2003 –
PHOTO BY NINA PROMMER/GLOBE PHOTOS INC2003
Now a father of three, following accusations of Ellen’s toxic behavior and workplace environment, he has been sounding off as well. “All I could think was she must be an incredible actor because she was one of the most vile people I’ve ever met in my life.”
The most recent allegations have caused ratings of her show to drop 29% in the week ending July 26 2020 compared to 2019. Employees have been coming forward citing experiencing “racism, fear and intimidation” while working on the show.