The Hollywood Reporter. Griffin instructed THR that DeGeneres was the one particular person to hit her again with unfavourable suggestions, and that she “sobbed like a child” after her telephone name with the comic-turned-mogul.
She confronted backlash as an LGBTQ icon for supporting Kevin Hart amid his homophobic tweets in 2019
Relationship again to her resolution to come back out publicly as a lesbian in 1997, Ellen DeGeneres has been one thing of an LGBTQ icon, having endured a media firestorm and profession lull with the intention to be her genuine self in an extremely public method. Through the years, she has continued to supply her voice and sources to causes of significance to her neighborhood, together with turning into a particular envoy for World AIDS Consciousness on the behest of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011. Provided that background, it struck a lot of her followers and supporters as extremely disappointing in 2019 when she championed Kevin Hart as host of the Oscars after the comic’s previous homophobic tweets had resurfaced.
Hart had stepped down from the beforehand introduced internet hosting gig of his personal volition, tweeting amid the controversy that he didn’t need to be a distraction and apologizing to the LGBTQ neighborhood. As an alternative of letting sleeping canines lie, DeGeneres actively campaigned to get him again on the Academy Awards present. In the long run, the present proceeded with out an official host for the festivities, however individuals had been nonetheless damage, confused, and upset in DeGeneres’ dealing with of the scenario.
She additionally ruffled feathers by getting chummy with former President George W. Bush
Whereas being unfriendly or imply to others is a surefire method for celebrities to catch warmth from followers and observers, typically being good or chummy with the unsuitable particular person may be evaluated with an equally important mild in sure circles. Such was the case in October 2019 when Ellen DeGeneres was snapped sitting with former U.S. President George W. Bush throughout an NFL soccer recreation between the Dallas Cowboys and the Inexperienced Bay Packers. As reported by Deadline, DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi had been invited to the sport by the daughter of Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones, who seemingly invited the previous president and his spouse, Laura Bush, to the sport.
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When footage of the unlikely foursome went viral on-line, some followers expressed dismay at DeGeneres for associating with the conservative chief. For them, George W. Bush’s opposition to same-sex marriage, his involvement within the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and different actions made him the form of particular person whom DeGeneres, an LGBTQ icon, shouldn’t be making buddies with. DeGeneres later defended her relationship with Bush, saying on her present (by way of the BBC), “I’m buddies with lots of people who don’t share the identical beliefs I’ve.” Nonetheless, her controversial friendship with Bush continued to be a sore level for some followers.
Ellen famously acquired known as out by actress Dakota Johnson on her present
If any particular person second has come to signify the downfall of Ellen DeGeneres or, as a minimum, her stunning transition from being America’s favourite, fun-loving chat present host to somebody who’s recognized for his or her poor humor and prickly demeanor, it’s DeGeneres’ now notorious November 2019 interview with actress Dakota Johnson. Johnson was showing on the present to advertise her newest film, “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” when DeGeneres inquired concerning the actress’ birthday. DeGeneres seemingly wasn’t asking the query out of real curiosity or to get the story out, although. Fairly, she was upset at not being invited to Johnson’s celebration and was taking the chance to publicly level out that she had been excluded.
By no means one to again down, nevertheless, Johnson fired again, saying that DeGeneres’ claims had been unfaithful and that she had been invited. Johnson even known as upon the present’s staffers to again her up, ensuing within the affirmation that DeGeneres had, in actual fact, been invited (DeGeneres in the end remembered that she had been invited after her botched call-out try). Then later within the interview, Johnson name-checked Tig Notaro, not DeGeneres, as her favourite comic. Whereas the 2 performers performed every little thing off through the phase, the harm was carried out within the courtroom of public opinion, the place many felt that DeGeneres had acted out in a petty and exceedingly needy method. And it’s most likely secure to say Johnson is now not a fan of DeGeneres.
Comic Kevin T. Porter held courtroom on social media over Ellen’s less-than-desirable persona traits and poor therapy of others in 2020
Because the years glided by, Ellen DeGeneres’ alleged prickly demeanor grew to become increasingly more part of the general public discourse, however the floodgates had been really opened in March 2020 when Kevin T. Porter posted a tweet studying, partly, “Proper now all of us want a bit kindness. You understand, like Ellen DeGeneres all the time talks about! She’s additionally notoriously one of many meanest individuals alive. Reply to this with probably the most insane tales you’ve heard about Ellen being imply.” Porter promised to make a $2 donation to the LA Regional Meals Financial institution for every story that was shared. Two days later, Porter shared a screenshot of a receipt revealing that he had made a $600 donation to the group in DeGeneres’ title.
Whereas Porter confessed that he couldn’t vet each story, the truth that so many individuals had been keen to submit tales about DeGeneres’ alleged unhealthy conduct to the Twitter thread was eye-opening. For her half, actress-pop tradition commentator Chris Farah relayed a narrative on X of getting almost been fired from a waitressing job when DeGeneres allegedly complained about her look. In the meantime, “Thriller Science Theater 3000” star Hampton Yount chided DeGeneres on X for making Portia de Rossi “unfunny in public.”
Ellen’s recounting of her early pandemic expertise was fully tone deaf
The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic had been tough for individuals all over the world, no matter their backgrounds or social standing, as uncertainty abounded and lockdown orders and social distancing pointers created an isolating setting the place individuals had been unable to attach. All of the whereas, individuals suffered and died as medical science struggled to meet up with the unfold of the novel coronavirus. That mentioned, some individuals had been undoubtedly higher geared up to cope with pandemic life than others. So, when Ellen DeGeneres noticed match to complain about her personal pandemic expertise, it ruffled a major variety of feathers.
After an early pandemic break, DeGeneres’ present returned when her spouse, Portia de Rossi, filmed the comic inside considered one of their properties to create a brand new episode. In the course of the video, DeGeneres likened her quarantine expertise to being in jail, regardless of her multi-million-dollar digs, the picturesque surroundings round her, and the truth that her lovely partner was by her facet. The feedback got here throughout as tone deaf when so many didn’t have the sources the well-known comic needed to cope with the scenario. What’s extra, inmates in precise prisons had been struggling to get care as COVID-19 unfold by way of correctional establishments on the time.
BuzzFeed broke the story on Ellen’s phony kindness mantra and the extremely poisonous office on her speak present
Not lengthy after Kevin T. Porter’s viral Twitter thread fueled public suspicion about Ellen DeGeneres’ off-camera conduct, BuzzFeed Information blew the proverbial lid off the scenario later in 2020 with a collection of explosive stories on what was reportedly a poisonous working setting at “The Ellen DeGeneres Present.” Within the first exposé, reporter Krystie Lee Yandoli detailed a litany of allegations from former staff who described a tradition of worry, systemic racism, and different types of intimidation and bullying on the present. One former staffer summed up the scenario bluntly, describing DeGeneres’ “be variety” mantra as “bulls***” that “solely occurs when the cameras are on.”
Yandoli’s second article, which was compiled after she had spoken with 36 former staff, dropped at mild extra severe allegations, as senior “Ellen” present producers had been accused of sexual misconduct and harassment. “Former staff mentioned that this tradition began with govt producer Ed Glavin,” Yandoli defined to NPR, “that he would contact them inappropriately within the management room and make them really feel uncomfortable, that usually he led with worry and intimidation. Former staff additionally instructed me that head author and govt producer Kevin Leman groped them, touched them inappropriately, and made sexually express feedback within the workplace and at workplace events.” Govt producer John Norman was additionally accused of constructing undesirable advances towards a staffer.
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Should you or anybody has been a sufferer of sexual assault, assist is accessible. Go to the Rape, Abuse & Incest Nationwide Community web site or contact RAINN’s Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Warner Bros. subsequently launched an investigation into the allegations
Within the wake of the BuzzFeed Information exposé collection, “The Ellen DeGeneres Present” grew to become the topic of an inside investigation by Warner Bros. and WB-TV. In keeping with Selection, WarnerMedia’s worker relations group and a third-party agency interviewed present and former staffers about their experiences. Though the investigation discovered no proof of systemic racism on “Ellen,” in line with E! Information, the present did in the end reduce ties with senior producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman, and John Norman. The present’s common DJ, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, was subsequently promoted to co-executive producer.
DeGeneres in the end responded to the myriad allegations of toxicity and abuse on her present and the next investigation throughout this system’s Season 18 premiere in September 2020. Throughout her monologue, DeGeneres apologized for her personal poor conduct and vowed that tough conversations about what transpired on the present had taken place, after which essential modifications had been enacted. “I need to proceed to assist all of the folks that we assist day by day, and I’m dedicated to creating this the most effective season that we have now ever had,” DeGeneres mentioned, by way of Leisure Tonight.
After 19 seasons and amid a public backlash, Ellen’s present formally got here to an finish in 2022
Regardless of Ellen DeGeneres’ public apology concerning the poisonous tradition that was reportedly fostered behind the scenes of her present and her vow that issues can be totally different shifting ahead, the harm was already carried out. Whereas followers tuned in for DeGeneres’ apology, making the Season 18 premiere the present’s highest-rated opener in 4 years, per The New York Instances, its viewership declined sharply from that time on. The outlet famous that “Ellen” misplaced greater than one million viewers over the six-month interval that adopted, in line with the analysis agency Nielsen, averaging simply 1.5 million viewers per present after having pulled a 2.6 million common over the identical interval of the earlier yr. Between the allegations and DeGeneres’ penchant for making visitors really feel uncomfortable, the writing was on the wall.
In the meantime, DeGeneres seemingly grew weary of the unbelievable grind of manufacturing an ultra-popular daytime speak present. So, in 2021, DeGeneres introduced that the present’s subsequent season, its nineteenth on the air, can be its final. “If you’re a inventive particular person, you continually have to be challenged — and as nice as this present is, and as enjoyable as it’s, it’s simply not a problem anymore,” the comic defined to The Hollywood Reporter on the time. “Ellen’s” last episode aired in Could 2022, a present that featured visitors Jennifer Aniston, Pink, and Billie Eilish. Portia de Rossi additionally made an look as DeGeneres took her last bow.
Ellen and spouse Portia de Rossi left the US for a brand new life overseas
Following her “Ellen’s Final Stand…Up” comedy tour in 2024, Ellen DeGeneres and her spouse, Portia de Rossi, made the sudden and stunning resolution to bid adieu to their life in California and transfer throughout the Atlantic Ocean to the UK. The facility couple in the end put down roots within the Cotswolds, buying a historic farmhouse for a reported $18 million. In July 2025, DeGeneres supplied an replace on her new, rural life within the U.Okay. whereas chatting with broadcaster Richard Bacon on the Everyman theatre in Cheltenham, noting that she and de Rossi made the transfer no less than partly attributable to Donald Trump’s return to the White Home. She added that the 2 of them had been wanting into getting remarried within the U.Okay., too, amid threats to homosexual marriage within the U.S.
Concerning the scandals that rocked her present and profession, and the rising notion that she’s a imply particular person, DeGeneres instructed Bacon (by way of the BBC), “I don’t assume I can say something that’s ever going to do away with that [reputation] or dispel it, which is hurtful to me. I hate it. I hate that individuals assume that I’m that as a result of I do know who I’m and I do know that I’m an empathetic, compassionate particular person.” Extra not too long ago, rumors that she might already be eyeing a return to the U.S. confirmed her popularity is toast.
Ellen was sued in 2025 for her involvement in an auto accident
Though her present has been off the air for years now and he or she has been protecting a considerably decrease profile since relocating to the UK, Ellen DeGeneres hasn’t been capable of escape new drama or extra controversial moments. In September 2025, the previous chat host was sued for negligence after she allegedly t-boned one other driver in Santa Barbara County, California, after ignoring a cease signal two years earlier. The opposite motorist claimed that she suffered “a number of severe private accidents and damages” from the collision, in line with Individuals, together with “vital earnings/enterprise loss,” “lack of enjoyment of life, emotional misery, and anxiousness.”
Resolving the incident has reportedly been difficult attributable to DeGeneres residing within the U.Okay., the place it’s tough to serve her with courtroom paperwork. In any case, the alleged sufferer within the case has requested a jury trial. Per Individuals, although, solely a non-jury trial was scheduled (for 2026).
