Ellen DeGeneres Criticized for Modest Donation to Late Producer's Family

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Ellen DeGeneres made a $5,000 public donation to her former executive producer Matt Wright’s family after his death — but loved ones wish his former boss would offer more to help alleviate their financial burden.

“Everyone who loved him is shocked and devastated over his death,” a source who used to work on set of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” told Page Six exclusively. “People who knew him do wish Ellen was doing more.”

The insider added how Wright was “such a hard worker” during his 16 years with the talk show.

“He’d be at the office most nights until 11 p.m.,” the source said.

DeGeneres has come under fire for her donation of $5,000 — despite having a net worth of $500 million.

One social media user criticized, “Big spender. She was crying her eyes out so much why didn’t she just pay the entire 50k.”

“Wow, 0.001% of her net worth! How generous!” added a second.

“5k from an almost billionaire…….how generous…….,” tweeted a third person.

According to a GoFundMe set up on behalf of his family, the nine-time Emmy Award winning producer, “died suddenly but peacefully in his sleep on Friday, October 30th in Los Angeles.”

An official cause of death has yet to be revealed. He was 52 years old.

During his time with DeGeneres, he worked his way up to an executive producer over the nearly two decades he spent working at the talk show.

A rep for DeGeneres did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

When the show’s resident DJ, Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, died by suicide in 2022, Wright struggled with the loss.

“He was also incredibly close to tWitch,” said the source. “That loss was really hard for Matt.”

Twitch’s widow, Allison Holker, donated $500 to Wright’s family.

Wright and his husband were both laid off over the summer, prompting the GoFundMe to be set-up.

A goal of $50,000 was set to assist with getting Wright’s body back to his home state of New York for a proper burial as well as for an upcoming Los Angeles memorial.

The GoFundMe read, “The unexpected costs of getting Matt home, a funeral and a memorial are impossible for the family to bear.

“If Matt has ever made you laugh, said an encouraging word right when you needed it, or ordered one too many appetizers for the enjoyment of the whole table, now is the time to repay the favor. Please donate what you can.”

At of the time this article was published, over $94,000 has been raised.

Tons of tributes from former colleagues have poured in on social media for Wright, including one from DeGeneres.

“So, Matt Wright, who was our executive producer and was featured on our show a lot, died the other day. And he was an amazing guy. He was funny. God, he made me laugh,” DeGeneres told her social media followers earlier in the week.

“He would surprise me with things that he did all the time,” she continued while holding back tears. “He was smart and he was kind. He was a part of our show. I mean, everyone loved him. I loved him, and it’s just shocking. We’re gonna miss him.”

Wright also has credits at “The View,” “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” and “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

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