Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. (Getty/Brooks Kraft)
Amid her “toxic workplace” scandal, Ellen DeGeneres has still managed to find her way on a list of the most admired women in the entire world.
Despite blistering backlash after staff accused senior producers of bullying, sexual misconduct and racism on the set of her show, and accusations that she is one of the “meanest people alive”, Ellen DeGeneres is still the 20th most admired woman in the world.
YouGov’s 2020 “world’s most admired” survey polled more than 45,000 people in 42 countries and territories, making it the organisation’s largest-ever study on admired public figures since it began asking in 2014.
The lists for most admired man and most admired woman were topped respectively by Barrack and Michelle Obama.
Although she still made it into the top 20, DeGeneres dropped five places since last year’s survey, coming in one place below Melania Trump.
New entries on the list of the world’s most admired women included Beyoncé, Shakira and Greta Thunberg.
The world’s most admired man list featured multiple anti-LGBT+ figures.
Turkey’s president Recep Erdoğan, who has called queer people “perverts” who “poison young people”, came in at number 20.
Donald Trump, who has consistently worked to dismantle LGBT+ rights throughout his presidency, banning transgender people from serving in the military and actively supporting discrimination against queer people in employment, services and healthcare, ranked 15th.
Terrifyingly, Vladimir Putin, who infamously brought in Russia’s “gay propaganda” law, almost made the top 10 most admired men in the world, coming in 12th place.
Recently, several planks of Putin’s campaign to sway citizens to vote in favour of a referendum that would instal him as president beyond the 2024 cut-off were potently anti-LGBT+, from effectively erasing trans people from existence to a constitutional ban on marriage equality.
Ellen DeGeneres recently addressed accusations that the set of her show is “toxic”.
Last week, Ellen DeGeneres finally addressed the allegations of bullying, sexual misconduct and racism on the set of her show.
During an opening monologue in the first episode of her show’s eighteenth season, released to YouTube before it aired on September 21, she said: “As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show, and then there was an investigation.
“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.
“I know that I am in a position of privilege and power and I realise that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”