Ellen DeGeneres moral act or traitor?

Although there is currently a Writers Gild strike, Ellen DeGeneres has decided to continue her show. A New York Times article entitled "Prospect of New York Protest Sends Ellen DeGeneres Home," by Bill Carter sheds light on her actions.

Ellen DeGeneres, right, will not tape two editions of her syndicated show in New York next week, ending the prospect of especially fervent protests from striking members of the Writers Guild of America. News of the canceled New York tapings, first reported yesterday on the Web site DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com, was confirmed by representatives of Ms. DeGeneres’s production company, Telepictures. Ms. DeGeneres returned to her syndicated daily talk show last week after sitting out just one day of the strike. That decision drew strong protests from the Writers Guild because Ms. DeGeneres is a member of the union. Her writers have been on strike, but Ms. DeGeneres has said she felt obligated to continue taping shows because other staff members would otherwise be laid off. She received support from a different union, Aftra, which argued in a letter to the Writers Guild that Ms. DeGeneres was obligated as a member to continue to work. Her supporters also noted that unlike other shows, including those of Jay Lendo and David Letterman, Ms. DeGeneres’s is syndicated and could be canceled if obligations were not met. The guild countered that Ms. DeGeneres should have made a personal decision to support the writers. Cancellation of the New York shows does not mean Ms. DeGeneres has joined the strike. She will simply tape the shows at her regular studio in Los Angeles, a representative of the show said.

I personally support her actions because she is binded by a contract and if she were to continue then many of her workers would be out of jobs; however, there is an argument to made that she is undermining their strike by performing. Also, she is financially and socially benefiting from this because she is getting more viewer attention, since there are not many other talk shows to watch presently, and she is siding with the. What it comes down to with me is that she is forced to continue in order for the show not to end. Although Ellen is still writing she has allowed for many of her fellow writers to remain in the strike.