Ellen DeGeneres thanks fans for ‘sticking by me’ in People’s Choice Awards speech

Ellen DeGeneres thanked her "amazing staff" during her acceptance speech at Sunday night's E! People's Choice Awards after a year in which accusations of a toxic workplace on her show led to the departure of three executive producers and a public apology.

DeGeneres accepted the award for daytime talk show of 2020 in person during a hybrid ceremony after the show beat seven other nominees.

"I am not only accepting this award for myself, I'm accepting it on behalf of my amazing crew, my amazing staff who make this show possible," DeGeneres said. "They show up every single day, they give 100% of themselves, 100% of the time.

"That's 250 people, times 170 shows a year, times 18 years, and if you carry the 2 and divide it by 11 — my point is I love them all. I thank them for what they do every single day to help that show be the best that we try to make it every single day."

In addition to her staff, DeGeneres thanked her supporters in Sunday night's speech.

"Thanks to all my fans for supporting me, for sticking by me, I cannot tell you how grateful I am and what this means to me," she said. "It's more than I can possibly tell you, especially right now. Thank you so much, I'm going to wipe (the award) down with Lysol, and then I'm gonna put it on my shelf. I love you all, thank you."

DeGeneres addressed the controversy in September in her opening monologue of the season 18 premiere of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

"As you may have heard, there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show, and then there was an investigation," DeGeneres said. "I learned that things happened here that never should've happened. I take that very seriously, and I want to say that I'm so sorry to the people who were affected.

"I know that I'm in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.

"We have had a lot of conversations over the last few weeks about the show, our workplace and what we want for the future. We have made the necessary changes, and today we are starting a new chapter."

Her apology came after a summer hiatus that included an internal investigation following a July 16 BuzzFeed story that featured one current employee and 10 former staffers who claimed they endured a culture of racism, fear and intimidation while working for the show.

The investigation led to the departures of executive producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman in August.

DeGeneres announced during the season premiere that her former DJ, Stephen "tWitch" Boss, had been promoted to co-executive producer of the show.