Sofia Vergara came to Ellen DeGeneres' defense after her The Ellen DeGeneres Show interview in December 2015 resurfaced. Some believed the 62-year-old host made fun of the Colombian-American actress' accent, but Vergara herself shut the claims.
The 48-year-old star tweeted the clip of the talk and said it only featured two comedians "having fun with each other to entertain." She cleared she was never a victim but "always in on a joke" instead.
In the interview, the two talked about the CoverGirl commercial that they did together, Us Weekly noted. Portia de Rossi's partner seemed to be puzzled why the producers gave the model the "hardest lines" in the project.
At the time, they had to describe what was in the makeup, and Vergara found it hard to pronounce any of it. Joe Manganiello's wife then explained that it was because DeGeneres was more famous and older than her, so they prioritized them.
She then stressed that DeGeneres read the script first. The veteran comedian was the one who made Vergara say the hard words because there was no other way. The Modern Family star then turned to the audience and said the producers made DeGeneres look pretty and delivered the critical information, not her.
With the emergence of this clip, social media users called out DeGeneres, claiming she was mocking Vergara's accent. Another one used her parents as examples of having heavy Spanish accents, but did not choose to be "in on the joke."
Instead, they became the target of jokes themselves. As a child of immigrant parents, she was always picked on because of that. She, then, cried foul of their entertainment, saying it might result in a free pass to ridicule others because of their accent.
Anyhow, some agreed Vergara and DeGeneres only shared a laugh and did not mean to offend anyone. However, it could never be denied that many viewers found it offensive.
Vergara's interview came amid the heat of the alleged toxic work environment The Ellen DeGeneres Show had. The show's former staffers came forward to reveal their bad experiences on the set, News.com.au reported.
The ex-employees revealed general rudeness and even big bosses' alleged sexual misconduct happening behind the scenes. WarnerMedia then launched an official investigation with the help of a third-party firm to look into the issue.
Three senior producers, executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman, had then been ousted. DeGeneres, then, held a video call meeting with The Ellen DeGeneres Show's staffers to boost their morale.
