Ellen DeGeneres Tests Positive For Covid, Halts Show Until January

Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for COVID-19, and has stopped production on her daytime talk show until after the holidays.

“Hi Everyone, I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19,” DeGeneres tweeted today (see it below). “Fortunately, I’m feeling fine right now. Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines.

“I’ll see you all again after the holidays,” she continues. “Please stay healthy and safe.”

DeGeneres informed the show’s staff of her diagnosis in a letter. A spokesperson for The Ellen DeGeneres Show tells Deadline the show finished its most recent taping on Tuesday and production on this season’s few remaining episodes will resume in January.

The daytime show brought back its live studio audience in October, with a limited number of live viewers on set. “You’re spaced six feet apart,” DeGeneres told the season’s first studio audience. “We’ve got as many of you in here as possible and please when you dance, try not to drift.”

In addition to wearing masks and maintaining proper social distance, audience members had to pass health screenings. “All of you were tested and you tested negative for COVID,” she said. “Some of you tested positive for other things, but I’m no snitch.”

In September, DeGeneres addressed the allegations of a toxic workplace environment. In a Buzzfeed article, former staffers fo the daytime talk show detailed claims of racist comments and other abusive behavior from current employees and top-level staff.