Musician Greyson Chance Calls Ellen DeGeneres 'Manipulative' in New Interview

Greyson Chance claims he was 'completely abandoned' by Ellen DeGeneres after being dropped by his record label.

Musical artist Greyson Chance is opening up for the first time about his experience with Ellen DeGeneres, who he says left him traumatized and "abandoned." 

In a new bombshell interview with Rolling Stone, Chance—who was thrust into the music scene at age 12—recalled working with the talk show host, who initially helped launch him to fame. 

After Chance went viral online on YouTube for a 2010 performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi," he was invited on DeGeneres' daytime show, and eventually was signed to her record label, ElevenEleven, where he was set up with an entire music management team. 

While DeGeneres, 64, clearly played in boosting Chance's career, the songwriter, now 25, claims the comedian was "domineering" and "manipulative" before eventually casting him aside once his music hit a rough patch. 

"I've never met someone more manipulative, self-centered and more blatantly opportunistic than her," Chance said of DeGeneres. He also opened up about the allegedly "controlling" behavior he experienced while working with the Finding Nemo star. 

"She would come in and look at a rack, yell at stylists, berate people in front of me and say, 'This is what you're wearing on the show,'" Chance stated. "She was just degrading to people." 

'My whole week, my whole month, my whole year could change [with] one text message from her," he added. "That was horrible." 

After Chance's 2012 EP didn't reach the success he'd hoped, the singer said he was "completely abandoned" by DeGeneres, who was "nowhere to be found" after he was dropped by his label and team that same year. 

Chance ended up working on his music independently, and appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show multiple times until 2019, where he said the titular host pretended their relationship was all fine and dandy, despite the tension off-camera. 

In a 2019 appearance on the show, Chance recalled DeGeneres discussing his sexuality after he came out in 2017, which he found uncomfortable and inappropriate, considering they hadn't spoken in years. 

"That's so messed up, that you're now showing the world as if we're so tight. We're so good," Chance said. "And behind the scenes, you are this insanely manipulative person." He also called the show's studio a "place of active trauma" for him.