ELLEN DEGENERES - SCORNED BY EASTERN WRITERS, ELLEN CANCELS NY TRIP

Singled out for attack by the Writers Guild of America East for continuing to appear on her syndicated daytime talk show during the current writers' strike, Ellen DeGeneres has canceled plans for taping in New York next week. She will continue to tape episodes of her show in Burbank, however, a publicist for the show said. Her decision to continue the show -- sans her daily monologue -- was defended by AFTRA and the show's producer, which pointed out that DeGeneres is doing the same sort of work that Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, and other talk-show hosts have been doing since the strike began -- without criticism from the WGA-East. In a statement, WGA-East President Michael Winship said, "We're delighted that Ellen DeGeneres has decided not to come to New York to tape her program. She knows that the Writers Guild East would have been there to protest her lack of solidarity, not only with her Guild writing staff but all the striking members of the Writers Guild, of which she is a member."

14/11/2007