Greyson Chance is standing by his truth after dropping some hard hitting claims about his former mentor Ellen DeGeneres in a recent bombshell interview with Rolling Stone.
The “Palladium” singer took to TikTok on Thursday to double down on allegations he made against the former daytime television host — after telling the magazine he had “never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” in the years after he broke out big on her show way back in 2010.
“And I stand behind all of it,” the 25-year-old said in his follow-up video. “You know, I’ve been wanting to tell this story now for multiple years and was repeatedly told not to but the truth is, what you saw on TV and what was pitched out to the mainstream just wasn’t what was happening behind the scenes.”
Chance was on 12 when he was invited on Ellen’s show on as a guest after a video of the Oklahoma native singing Lady Gaga‘s “Paparazzi” for a school performance went viral. In his video, he explained he gained new perspective on their alleged interactions with age.
“Now that I’m 25 and I’m older, I can recognize that what happened to me as a kid was not cool,” he noted. “And I’ve had to wrestle with so much of that PTSD and so much of that trauma as I’ve been growing up as a musician and as I’ve been fighting the industry to continue to make music and to still do this.”
In the video video, the singer also acknowledged that some people may form their own opinions about why he decided to go public with his allegations and could label him ungrateful for his opportunities.
“I’m sure people will have a lot to say about the article and how I maybe appear ungrateful for her efforts in the beginning, and the truth is that I am grateful for her giving me a start,” Chance said, “but I’m more grateful to myself for the moments when I got dropped and everything went awry when I was a kid. I’m thankful to 15-year-old me that picked up the pieces and kept on going and kept on fighting.”
Following Greyson’s appearances on Ellen’s show in 2010, the 64-year-old TV personality created a music label called eleveneleven and signed Chance as her first ac, surrounding him with a team of high-profile managers and publicists to ensure his success.
When he released a mini EP and started to tour in 2010, he told Rolling Stone her behavior became “domineering and way too controlling” — and claimed she even berated his mother when he couldn’t make time to watch a Justin Bieber documentary she thought would benefit his career.
Chance went on to say that DeGeneres “completely abandoned” him when his 2012 album was not the success they were hoping for. After he was dropped by his label, he said he “couldn’t get ahold of her. Couldn’t talk to her.”
He told the publication he received multiple invitations to reappear on the show one last time for the final season — including a spot on the last two-weeks — but he turned them all down.
“How in the world am I supposed to sit down and say I’m so thankful and let her take that moment,” he said. “I couldn’t do that. So I turned down a national-TV gig on the eve of an album release, which is probably not a smart thing to do, but I had to do it for my integrity.”
Rolling Stone said DeGeneres declined to respond to a “detailed list of questions about Chance’s allegations.” TooFab has also reached out for comment. A source close to Ellen’s show, however, told PEOPLE they “went above and beyond to help set him up for success, but in business that doesn’t always work out, and his career did not take off.”
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