Warner Bros 'concerned and disappointed' by misconduct allegations
Warner Bros. are "concerned and disappointed" about the wave of misconduct allegations to have hit some of their shows.
Current and former employees at both 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' and 'TMZ' - which are both produced by the company - have come forward to speak about their negative experiences in the workplace and now WarnerMedia executives have reassured staff they are taking measures to investigate and instigate change.
According to BuzzFeed, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar sent an email to staff which read: "I am both concerned and disappointed by public reports regarding patterns of unacceptable behavior that have been raised in recent weeks."
He told the employees that the company would be communicating to all existing and prospective partners, including the "active and potential motion picture and television productions," that there would be a clear requirement to ensure "people be treated with dignity and our intention [is] to sever ties where patterns of behaviour are at odds with that requirement."
The executive confirmed a third party had been brought in to carry out an "objective, proactive review across our production business" in order to explore if there is "any pattern of behaviour that is at odds with our need to treat each other with dignity."
Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff also sent a memo to staff, in which she said she had "empowered, and will hold accountable, the Studios and Networks HR and Legal teams to act on any issues that are brought to them."
She added: "These groups are a safe harbour where you can register any concerns."
In August, executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman were fired from 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' following allegations of sexual harassment and a culture of fear and intimidation.
Ellen subsequently apologised to staff, and she recently confirmed she will be addressing the controversy when the show returns next week.
She said: "I can't wait to get back to work and back to our studio. And, yes, we're gonna talk about it."
