Referencing the controversy she has faced in recent months, Baldwin continued, “We all have some patches of white water here, but you keep going. Don’t you stop doing what you’re doing.”
DeGeneres was appreciative. “Thank you so much, Alec,” she told him. “That means so much to me. I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, there have been some rapids,” she quipped, “and I am maneuvering the raft.”
The longtime host addressed those “rapids” in an opening monologue during the season premiere on Monday, Sept. 21. “As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation,” she said, addressing the claims with viewers for the first time. “I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected.”
She took responsibility for what happens at her namesake show and assured fans that “we have made the necessary changes and today we are starting a new chapter.”
