The California Lottery mishandled a promotion that gave 30,000 Scratchers tickets, worth more than $138,000, to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which handed most of them out as gifts to audience members, the state controller said Tuesday.
The report by State Controller Betty T. Yee was released a year after an investigation was launched into the giveaway, which some called an inappropriate gift of public resources. Yee, the state’s chief fiscal officer, recommended that the Lottery change its policies and practices to prevent similar problems in the future.
“Our review determined that the Lottery did not maintain adequate controls over The Ellen DeGeneres Show Scratchers ticket promotion’s approval process, agreement negotiations, security of promotional Scratchers tickets, and purchases of add-on media,” the report concluded.
Lottery officials disputed some of the controller’s findings. The officials argued that the Scratchers, which were given to the show’s audience in December 2019, provided positive publicity that they believed boosted sales of lottery products and was worth more than the value of the tickets provided.
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