2024-09-26 01:55:03
Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about the fallout from her toxic workplace scandal in what she claims will be the final comedy special of her career.
The comedian, 66, released her latest special “Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval” Tuesday on Netflix, in which she announces to viewers early on, “I got kicked out of show business because I’m mean. Yeah, you can’t be mean and be in show business.” She later describes this as the “second time I’ve been kicked out of show business,” referring to backlash she faced after coming out as gay in the 1990s.
“Eventually, they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old,” she quips. “Mean, old and gay. The triple crown.”
In 2020, DeGeneres faced claims that her daytime talk show was a toxic workplace, with BuzzFeed News citing current and former employees who alleged racism, fear and intimidation while working on the show. Addressing the claims that year, the comedian said she “learned that things happened here that never should have happened” and apologized “to the people who were affected.” She ended her talk show in 2022.
In “For Your Approval,” DeGeneres reveals she went to therapy to “deal with all the hatred” amid the scandal. “It was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with,” she tells the audience. “At one point, my therapist said, ‘Ellen, where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’ I said, ‘Well, New York Times, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly — I think Elmo may have said something recently on an episode of ‘Sesame Street.'”
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Ellen DeGeneresbreaks silence on talk show’s ‘devastating’ end 2 years ago: Reports
DeGeneres reflects on the feeling that everywhere she goes, “everyone’s heard that I’m mean,” joking that people are on edge when she goes to a restaurant, “waiting to see if I’ll be mean.”
After she recalls reading a headline declaring that she is the “most hated person in America,” she quips, “It’s a horrible thing to say about somebody, and to make it worse, there was no trophy, no awards banquet. Nothing.”
About the Author
