Charlie Puth says Ellen DeGeneres’s record label ‘disappeared’ after his first demo: ‘Nobody was present’
Charlie Puth has claimed that Ellen DeGeneres’s record label “disappeared” after he recorded his first EP, as he discussed Greyson Chance’s recent allegations against the presenter.
Last month, former teen pop star Greyson Chance spoke out against DeGeneres, claiming that she had “controlled” and then “completely abandoned” him after signing him to her now-defunct record label, eleveneleven, in 2010, when he was 12.
The presenter originally discovered Chance after a clip of him singing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” went viral, with DeGeneres inviting the pre-teen on her show and starting a trend in which she would often interview the stars of popular internet videos.
DeGeneres has not responded to the claims, although sources claimed that the presenter “went above and beyond” for Chance.
Now singer Puth, who also signed with eleveneleven in 2011 after DeGeneres saw a viral clip of him singing Adele’s “Someone Like You”, has spoken about his own experiences with eleveneleven.
“...People describe Ellen as rude. I’ve never experienced that. Maybe she likes me,” Puth told the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, adding that he’d been “really excited” when he’d received his record contract offer from the label.
“Where I do agree – we both have different experiences, me versus Greyson – but I do agree with him that nobody was really present, certainly after the creation of my first demo EP. I didn’t really hear from anybody after that.”
Puth continued: “Not putting any blame just on one person, but from a collective, all the people that were in that room, they just [whoosh noise] disappeared.”
The musician said that he’d been “fortunate” enough to be able to return to school, saying: “It was a real blunder that it didn’t work out… I never heard those songs again, but I don’t know how good they are… I was a YouTube artist, I don’t think I was a very good singer.
“So I was happy to not hear those songs anymore, but I do agree, I didn’t really hear from anybody after I put those songs out. But it was a different situation for me, because I was glad I didn’t hear those songs.”
Puth said that he’d never discussed what happened with DeGeneres.
The Independent has contacted DeGeneres’s representatives for comment.
In his original interview, Chance claimed that the presenter was initially “really invested” in his career, but then “became domineering and way too controlling” over his career, deciding what he wore and his creative output.
He says that DeGeneres totally disappeared when his music began to underperform and “completely abandoned him” when his second record flopped in late 2012.
“I’ve never met someone more manipulative, more self-centred, and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” Chance said.
