Ellen DeGeneres is working hard to combat rumors that she and wife Portia De Rossi are divorcing. Overbearing Ellen forced Portia into the spotlight Valentine's Day in order to dispel breakup gossip, but word has it de Rossi is playing it cool, while she plans her escape.
It has pretty much become an accepted fact that Ellen DeGeneres runs her talk show with an iron first behind the scenes, in contrast to her Queen of Nice image.
A show insider told Star that if you want to work for Ellen, you have to be willing to be treated like a dog that obeys, not a dignified human being:
"[Ellen's] staff says she's one of the meanest people they've ever encountered...A person who was newly hired was in some meeting with the higher-ups and Ellen.
"When Ellen came into the room everyone was told to sit and not to move at all. This is a normal demand for anyone is the presence of Ellen. The producers speak with Ellen about staff in the third person like they aren't sitting right there. The person they were speaking about during that particular meeting finally spoke up herself to answer a question, and Ellen freaked out because she wasn't given permission to speak. Later in the day, she was let go."
Word has it that Ellen has been just as domineering in her relationship with de Rossi.
Portia's entire life is dictated by her domineering wife.
A friend to the couple told Star that Ellen decides who de Rossi gets to see and talk to:
"She reads Portia's emails and checks her phone to see who she has been talking to. She refuses to let Portia go out with her friends, and she regulates who is allowed at the house!"
No wonder Portia is ready to make her escape despite Ellen's comments to the contrary.
Portia might be playing it cool for right now, but a source told Star that she just didn't want to alarm Ellen while she was planning her escape:
"Ellen follows a cynical pattern: She is mean and controlling, then she sees that Portia is pulling away and sucks it up. She'll cry and tell Portia that she can't live without her, then spoil her with vacations, cars, and jewelry.
"She has a way of making Portia believe that she would never be anything without Ellen, and if they split, she'd be screwed...That's why Portia doesn't want Ellen to know that she's told friends she's thinking of leaving her."
Run Portia run.
