degeneres decided to abstain from doing a monologue on her show (which is typically written by wga writers) during the strike. her show continued production as normal with the exception of her monologue being omitted. the wgae issued a statement condemning degeneres, stating she was "not welcome in ny." degeneres's representatives asserted that she did not violate the wga's agreement, arguing that she is competing with other first-run syndicated shows like "dr. phil" and "live with regis and kelly" during the competitive november sweeps period, and that degeneres must fulfill her duties as host and producer, lest her show lose its time slot or be held in breach of contract. in addition, a statement defending degeneres was subsequently issued by aftra, pointing out that degeneres also works under the aftra tv code, which bars her from striking. the wgae then issued a response pointing out that degeneres is also a writers guild member, and that any writing work she did on her show during the strike constituted struck work.