Charlie Puth says Ellen DeGeneres’s record label ‘disappeared’ after his first demo: ‘Nobody was present’
Musician compared his experiences with DeGeneres’s now-defunct label eleveneleven to Greyson Chance’s allegations
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments