GREYSON Chance was discovered by Ellen DeGeneres for his impressive cover of Lady Gaga’s 'Paparazzi'. Recently, he spoke up about the exploitation and opportunistic character of his mentor.
The singer is standing by his claims about DeGeneres’ behaviour, hours after a report surfaced detailing their once close relationship and fallout.
On Thursday, the 25-year-old posted a video on TikTok saying he stands behind everything he said in a fiery Rolling Stone profile, where he referred to DeGeneres as “domineering” following the years after his 2010 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show.
At the time, he appeared on the show after his Oklahoma middle school performance went viral.
“You know, I’ve been wanting to tell this story now for multiple years and was repeatedly told not to but the truth is, what you saw on TV and what was pitched out to the mainstream just wasn’t what was happening behind the scenes,” said Chance.
The singer also said that getting older has helped him find perspective, and allowed him to recognise that what was happening to him as a child was “not cool”.
He added that as he grew up as a musician and fought the industry to make music, he had to wrestle with trauma and PTSD.
With the help of DeGeneres, the singer managed to sign with talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) and eleveneleven, DeGeneres’ music label.
“I’m sure people will have a lot to say about the article and how I may appear ungrateful for [DeGeneres’] efforts in the beginning, and the truth is that I am grateful for her giving me a start,” said Chance.
“But I’m more grateful to myself for the moments when I got dropped and everything went awry when I was a kid. I’m thankful to 15-year-old me that picked up the pieces and kept on going and kept on fighting,” he added.
Chance told Rolling Stone that he released a mini EP in October 2010 after signing with DeGeneres’ label. It began an intense touring schedule, where he performed in Canada, Paris, London, and across the United States.
However, with his rising fame, Chance claimed that DeGeneres became “domineering and way too controlling”.
The singer alleged that DeGeneres would make him reshoot videos she found unsatisfactory, and banned him from wearing leather vis-a-vis her then-commitment to veganism. He claimed she was so controlling to the point that she would berate stylists for their clothing options.
According to Chance, his relationship with DeGeneres fizzled after his music and ticket sales underperformed in 2012. By November that year, eleveneleven dropped him and DeGeneres ‘disappeared’ along with his WME agents.
Nonetheless, Chance still released a handful of singles and even returned to DeGeneres’ show in 2015. During that appearance, he said that she expressed how proud she was of him but never spoke backstage.
He appears once again a few years later, this time DeGeneres hugged him and asks how he’d been, to which he responds “what do you mean how have I f***ing been? Where have you been?”
During that 2019 interview, DeGeneres said she was proud of Chance for coming out two years prior.
In response to this, Chance said to Rolling Stone “she had nothing to do with that. … [When I came out,] 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,” he added.
Following that, Chance vowed to never return to the show. Since then, the singer performed over 100 concerts and released a new album, ‘Palladium’.
Chance claimed that Ellen producers contacted him to appear one last time on the show as it reaches its end, to which he declined twice.
Despite the final weeks being estimated to have exceptionally high viewership for his album release, he could not compromise his integrity for the sake of a national TV gig. – The Vibes, September 23, 2022
.jpg)
