Could Julie Chen's words of wisdom actually be a thinly-veiled insult to Ellen DeGeneres?
Well, ask any viewer of the Aug. 13 episode of Big Brother All Stars and they'd probably say yes.
As fans of the series know, the hostess typically ends the show by saying, "From outside the Big Brother house, I'm Julie Chen. Goodnight."
But on Thursday, the former The Talk host strayed from script in a very noticeable way. She said, "From outside the Big Brother All Stars house, I'm Julie Chen-Moonves, and remember the golden rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' Goodnight."
Cue the side-eye.
Fans were quick to note that this is too similar to Ellen's sign-off, in which she says, "Be kind to one another," to be a mere coincidence. One Twitter user said, "julie's weird ass sign off at the end? she's coming for the ellen gig omg."
Others on social media noted she made a similar remark last week, ending with a reminder to "be good to one another."
However, in a statement to Entertainment Weekly the Big Brother host said she signed off that way to encourage wearing masks and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. "Last night, I mentioned the Golden Rule because I believe that of EVERYONE followed that principle we'd ALL be better off as a society, as a nation, as a world. I chose to close with those words because Black Lives Matter and now is the time to speak up," she wrote, adding that this was a choice made by her alone and not the show producers.
Julie's comments comes after WarnerBros. conducted an internal investigation on The Ellen DeGeneres Show workplace, amid claims of misconduct. Multiple former and current employees claimed the set was a "toxic environment," with others leveling accusations of sexual harassment against some of the show's executive producers.
Shortly after, in a letter addressed to her staff, Ellen apologized for these claims, acknowledging that what allegedly took place behind the scenes is the "opposite of what I believe."
"That will now change and I'm committed to ensuring this does not happen again," she promised.