Millions of people tune in to The Ellen DeGeneres Show every day to watch Ellen DeGeneres deliver hilarious monologues about current events, interview celebrities from all walks of life and play games with her studio audience. But the stand-up comedian is no stranger to controversy.
Two decades after launching her career, DeGeneres broke through in the 1990s with her ABC sitcom, Ellen. The show was a success — some critics even called it the “female Seinfeld” — but everything came crashing down at the height of its popularity. In 1997, the star came out as a lesbian, both in real life and as her character on TV. At the time, same-sex marriage was not yet legal in the U.S., so the news caused quite a stir. Ellen’s ratings plummeted soon after, and the network ultimately canceled the show in 1998.
DeGeneres climbed her way back to the top in 2003 with the launch of her daytime talk show, which went on to win numerous Emmys and other awards. However, in 2020, the host was under fire once again. After years of rumors in Hollywood, several people came forward to accuse DeGeneres of being mean to her staff and others around her. BuzzFeed News subsequently published back-to-back reports detailing former and current Ellen DeGeneres Show employees’ allegations of a toxic work environment.
The Finding Nemo star apologized to her staff in an email at the time and publicly addressed the scandal during the season 18 premiere of her show later that year.
“I learned that things happened that never should have happened. I take that very seriously,” she said on the air at the time. “I want to say I am so sorry to the people who are affected. I know that I am in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility. And I take responsibility for what happens at my show. This is The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
In the midst of the backlash that DeGeneres faced in the press and on social media, she received support from her celebrity friends including Katy Perry and Kevin Hart.
“They know that Ellen can be tough but accept that about her and know that it takes a lot of work to run a tight ship like her show,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in 2020. “They get it.”
The Seriously…I’m Kidding author also got some love from her wife, Portia de Rossi, who shared an “I Stand by Ellen” meme via Instagram in response to the rumors.
Scroll down to revisit some of DeGeneres’ most controversial moments over the years.
After the Louisiana native came out in April 1997, ABC began putting a parental advisory warning at the beginning of each episode of Ellen due to the backlash she got. Some members of the LGBTQ community, including Chaz Bono, even spoke out against the show, complaining that it focused too much on gay rights after the star’s reveal. The show ended just one year later with its fifth season.
“It’s funny because all along that was my biggest fear, that it was going to get canceled,” DeGeneres recalled in an October 2015 interview. “Then it was all kinds of other lessons of learning what it’s like to not be loved and to be the butt of everybody’s joke on television and in magazines, so I had to learn what that feels like, to not let things like that get to you.”
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The People’s Choice Award winner raised eyebrows in November 2008 when she handed Mariah Carey a glass of champagne on The Ellen DeGeneres Show after the singer declined to comment on speculation that she was expecting her first child with then-husband Nick Cannon.
“I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath,” Carey, who welcomed twins Moroccan and Monroe with Cannon in April 2011, recalled to Vulture in August 2020. “I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage.”
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After DeGeneres and George W. Bush were spotted looking chummy at a Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys game in October 2019, she received backlash due to the former president’s opposition to same-sex marriage and other political issues. She defended their friendship on her talk show later that month, telling viewers, “I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have.”
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Dakota Johnson lit up the internet in November 2019 after talking about her 30th birthday party on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In the viral clip, the Fifty Shades of Grey star and DeGeneres went back and forth about whether or not the TV host had received an invitation.
“I didn’t even know you liked me,” Johnson said during the interview, which some viewers saw as playful and funny while others called it awkward and tense. (It later came out that the actress’ party took place the same night that DeGeneres and Bush were at the NFL game.)
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The Funny Thing Is... author became a trending topic on Twitter in March 2020 after fellow comedian Kevin T. Porter started a thread asking people to share stories about her being mean to them. YouTuber Nikkie de Jager (a.k.a. NikkieTutorials) subsequently accused DeGeneres of being “cold and distant,” while bodyguard Tom Majercak claimed she had been “demeaning” toward him at the 2014 Oscars.
“Ellen is at the end of her rope,” a source exclusively told Us at the time. “She thought this was all just sour grapes from a few haters. But it’s not a passing thing — the hits just keep coming.”
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DeGeneres came under fire in April 2020 after jokingly complaining on her show that quarantining at her $27 million Montecito, California, mansion amid the COVID-19 pandemic was “like being in jail.” Many Twitter users accused her of being insensitive because inmates at overcrowded prisons in the U.S. were particularly susceptible to the deadly virus. (DeGeneres tested positive for the novel coronavirus that December.)
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One current and 10 former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show alleged in a July 2020 BuzzFeed News report that they had faced racism, fear and intimidation behind-the-scenes. In a second report by the website, 36 former staffers spoke out about alleged incidents of harassment, sexual misconduct and assault at the hands of top producers. Warner Bros. subsequently launched an internal investigation into the series, and three executives were ousted.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” DeGeneres wrote in a letter to her staff, which Us obtained at the time. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
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The former American Idol judge made light of the allegations when her show returned in September 2020, saying, “I’m excited to see all of my staff and my crew. Hi, everybody. Please don’t look me in the eye.”
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