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The Ellen DeGeneres show is finally approaching its end after the host of the show, Ellen DeGeneres, herself announced that the 19th season of the show would be the last season of it. With teary eyes, she said, “I want you to know that I’ve thought a lot about this decision. I sat with it for a while. I meditated on it. The truth is, I always trust my instincts. My instinct told me it’s time.”
Ellen DeGeneres began her career as a stand-up comedian and received a lot of love and support from her audience. In the late 90s, she came up with her talk show by the name “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and reigned the television for a long time. While addressing her audience she asserted, “In 1997, I knew it was time to come out on my sitcom and live my truth. Back then, I had a vivid dream that a bird flew out of a cage and set itself free because it needed to get out of that cage. Recently, I had a dream that a bird, a beautiful bird with bright red feathers, came to my window and whispered, ‘You can still do stuff on Netflix. And that was the sign I was looking for.”
The Ellen DeGeneres show is a very popular talk show and like most others has been in several controversies over the years due to the politically incorrect statements made by its host or by the guests. In this article, we shall be discussing the 10 times The Ellen DeGeneres show was in the headlines due to its controversies.
The toxicity accusation:
In 2020, Ellen DeGeneres faced a lot of backlash from several people from Hollywood and her staff. He was criticized for being mean and rude and creating a toxic work environment on the sets of her show. During the premiere of the 18th season of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen apologized for everything and accepted the blame. She asserted, “I learned that things happened that never should have happened. I take that very seriously. 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.”
Accepting her sexuality:
Coming out as gay, and that too during times when same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in America, took a lot of courage. In 1997, Ellen DeGeneres accepted her sexuality before the world and declared herself as a lesbian. In one of her interviews, she talked about how her show was canceled and how everything was negative. She asserted, “It’s funny because all along that was my biggest fear, that it was going to get canceled. Then it was all kinds of other lessons of learning what it’s like to not be loved and to be the butt of everyone’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.”
Mariah Carey’s pregnancy:
In November 2008, Mariah Carey was pregnant with her twins from her husband Nick Cannon. She had already suffered a miscarriage before that and therefore did not wanted to talk about her pregnancy in the public. Ellen asked her some questions regarding the news of her pregnancy. When she refused to answer them, she handed her a glass of champagne. Talking about the discomfort she faced on the sets of the show, Mariah asserted, “I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage.”
Orchestrated toxicity:
After she announced the end of her show, she addressed the previous year’s controversy, as a part of which she was accused of being rude and mean to the people around her. Reacting to it, she said, “I didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it. It was too orchestrated. It was four months straight for me, and then for me to read in the press about a toxic work environment, when all I’ve ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is, and … what a happy place it is.”
She added, “I don’t know how I could have known when there are 255 employees here and there are a lot of different buildings. Unless I stayed here until the last person went home at night. I do wish somebody would have come to me and said, ‘Hey, something’s going on that you should know about.'”
Dakota’s birthday party:
Dakota was on the sets of the Ellen DeGeneres show to promote her movie “Peanut Butter” when Ellen started discussing her birthday party. The conversation turned a bit awkward and everyone in the audience could sense the tension starting to build up. Ellen asked Dakota, “How was the party? I wasn’t invited.” Dakota wasn’t very pleased with the question and replied, “Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen, you were invited. No, last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me a bunch of s— about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited.” Ellen responded to it saying, “Well, who wouldn’t want to be invited to a party?” The conversation had started to become more awkward for Dakota and she stated “But I didn’t even know you liked me. But I did invite you, and you didn’t come. You were out of town.”
Conclusion:
The Ellen DeGeneres show is ending with its 19th season. The show ran successfully for almost two decades and became a part of a lot of controversies. From Ellen DeGeneres, the show’s host coming out as a lesbian in 1997, to her being accused of creating a toxic work environment on the sets of the show in 2020, the show has always been in the headlines.
