Greyson Chance, the first artist Ellen DeGeneres signed to her eleveneleven record label in 2010, has blasted the former daytime talk show host for the way she allegedly treated him.
“I’ve never met someone more manipulative, more self-centred, and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” the 25-year-old singer told Rolling Stone.
Chance went viral when a video of him performing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” was posted to YouTube. During an appearance on Ellen, he performed an original song and won $10,000 and a piano in Ellen’s Wonderful Web of Wonderment contest.
Once she signed Chance, DeGeneres became “domineering and way too controlling” about his image and performances. “My whole week, my whole month, my whole year could change [with] one text message from her,” said Chance. “That was horrible.
"If she had an opinion of any sort, the whole thing changed."
The singer recalled that DeGeneres pushed him to watch Justin Bieber’s documentary Never Say Never for inspiration. “It was clear that, ‘OK, I’m a pawn in your game.’ So I watched the movie,” he said.
Chance said he felt “completely abandoned” by DeGeneres and the team she had assembled after his sophomore album failed to garner much attention.
“I couldn’t get ahold of her. Couldn’t talk to her,” he said. “Whenever I would come on the show, it was such a fake smile.”
Chance reflected on his final appearance on Ellen. “She said, ‘How have you been?’ And that just killed me inside because I was like, ’What do you mean how have I f**king been? Where have you been?’
“I hadn’t spoken to her in years … that’s so messed up, that you’re now showing the world as if we’re so tight. We’re so good. And behind the scenes, you are this insanely manipulative person.”
Chance added: “When I look at the interviews and I look at my eyes, I can see so much anxiety. I can just see so much PTSD because I’m there holding on for dear life going, ‘I need this TV gig,’ I was 100 percent faking it, and [I felt like] she’s 100 percent faking it with me, too."
DeGeneres has not publicly responded to Chance's comments. Her talk show ceased production earlier this year.