(Daily Mail) Ellen DeGeneres has been slammed by her one-time protégée, entertainer Greyson Chance, who has accused the TV host of being ‘manipulative’, ‘self-centered’, and ‘blatantly opportunistic’ – alleging that she ‘completely abandoned’ him after signing him at the tender age of 12.
Oklahoma-born Chance, 25, made the bombshell claims about his former mentor in an interview with Rolling Stone on Thursday, recalling how Ellen, 64, vowed to ‘protect’ him and ‘be there for him’ after flying him out to Los Angeles to appear on her show when he was a tween.
The Oklahoma-born performer said he was overwhelmed when DeGeneres – whose long-running talk show ended this year amid scandal and controversy over claims she created a ‘toxic’ workplace – sought to feature him on her program in May 2010, after seeing a viral video of him singing Lady Gaga’s hit Paparazzi.
‘We just couldn’t believe what was happening,’ Chance said. ‘We were so unsure of what we were getting into, and the person that helped cure all of that skepticism and chaotic energy was Ellen.’
Bombshell: Ellen DeGeneres, 64, has been slammed by her former protégée, Greyson Chance (right in 2020) as ‘manipulative,’ ‘self-centered’ and ‘blatantly opportunistic’
Chance made his first appearance on The Ellen Show in May 2010, when he was just 12 years old (seen), after the TV host spotted a viral video of him singing Lady Gaga’s hit Paparazzi
Chance (seen on The Ellen Show in 2019) said that DeGeneres vowed she was ‘going to protect’ him and be there for him, saying, ‘We’re going to do this together’
Chance said that DeGeneres vowed she was ‘going to protect’ him and be there for him, saying, ‘We’re going to do this together.’ He added that Ellen ‘presented herself as a guardian and mentor’, and told his mother, Lisa, that she would ‘never have to work again a day in her life’.
During his appearance on The Ellen Show in May 2010, Chance performed Paparazzi for the host and her audience, before the TV host gifted him with $10,000 and a new grand piano.
According to Chance, DeGeneres told his mother, Lisa (seen on The Ellen Show in 2010), that she would ‘never have to work again a day in her life’ because she was going to make her son a star
‘My whole week, my whole month, my whole year could change [with] one text message from her,’ he said. ‘That was horrible.’
He claimed that DeGeneres would make demands about his career – stating that she once made him re-record a pre-taped performance for a TV appearance because she wasn’t happy with what he and his team had done.
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Chance (seen in 2021) said DeGeneres – who left the air two years after a toxic workplace scandal – exhibited nasty behavior toward him and others: ‘She was just degrading to people’
The singer made multiple appearances on The Ellen Show over the years – however behind the scenes, he says that DeGeneres was becoming increasingly ‘controlling’ over him
And – according to Chance – he wasn’t the only one who bore the brunt of DeGeneres’ ‘controlling’ behavior, with the singer highlighting one incident in 2011, when the TV host slammed his mother for failing to make him watch Justin Bieber’s documentary Never Say Never.
DeGeneres had secured Chance an advance copy of the movie, which saw cameras going behind the scenes during a then-teenage Justin’s global tour, and instructed him to watch it immediately – despite the fact that he was on tour at the time – so that he could model his own career on the chart-topper’s.
Chance said that when he didn’t watch the documentary right away because he was ‘exhausted’ from his performances, DeGeneres phoned his mother Lisa to ‘berate’ her, asking, ‘What type of mother are you?’
He added that DeGeneres then told him, ‘Disappointed isn’t even remotely what I’m feeling right now,’ in regards to the documentary issue. It was then that he says he realized he was nothing more than a ‘pawn’ in the talk show host’s ‘game’.
His mother Lisa also said that the TV host would ‘go through’ her son’s clothes and try and ‘control’ what he wore – including banning him from sporting leather because she was a committed vegan during the early years of his career.
Chance recalled how DeGeneres would ‘yell at stylists’ and ‘berate people in front of him’, stating that his former mentor – who left the air earlier this year, two years after she was hit with a furious toxic workplace scandal – ‘was just degrading to people.’
When Chance’s career began to lag in 2012, amid falling ticket sales and a failed album release, he says DeGeneres ‘completely abandoned’ him and ‘removed’ herself from his life – alleging that she wouldn’t even return his phone calls.
Chance said DeGeneres – who left the air about two years after a toxic workplace scandal – exhibited nasty behavior toward him and staffers, noting, ‘She was just degrading to people’
