Ellen DeGeneres recently announced that she is retiring from show business. The statement is quite strange, considering the fact that the public essentially “cancelled” it back in 2020. And the channel’s attempts to continue airing her talk show failed like nothing had happened.
But what exactly did Ellen DeGeneris do wrong in front of the public who have praised her for decades? Essentially nothing and everything at the same time. They hated her exactly for what they had previously loved her for. Because she makes fun of everything in her shows. Because she is very rich. For being the most influential gay woman on American TV. Because she is an artist and skillfully pretends, but in reality she is not at all the same as on stage..
Ellen rose to fame as a stand-up comedian. Then she began acting in television projects and in 1997 she made a sensational statement about her unconventionality. She made the cover of Time magazine. And her character in the TV series “Ellen” also came out and became the first non-traditional leading character in the history of American TV.
In the early 2000s, Ellen DeGeneris got her own talk show and it became a phenomenal success. For 19 years in a row, this program has become one of the most popular on television. And world celebrities and politicians appeared in it literally every issue.
At the same time, Ellen DeGeneris voiced Doris the fish in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, hosted the Emmy and Oscar ceremonies, and turned into an influential businessman and producer.
But in 2020, success abruptly gave way to an unexpected collapse. At the end of 2019, Ellen DeGeneris was seen having a nice conversation with George W. Bush. She was criticized for this – they say Bush is a bad guy, and besides, he has a bad attitude towards LGBT people. How can you be friends with him? The celebrity responded to these attacks:
“Just because I don’t agree with someone on everything, that doesn’t mean I won’t be friends with them. I always say, “Be kind to each other.” And I mean everyone, not just those who share your opinion. Be kind to everyone. Nothing else matters.”
Who would have thought that such a humanitarian response could provoke a reaction of zealous hatred? But that’s exactly what happened.
Just one social media post from not-so-famous comedian Kevin T. Porter radically changed everything. He wrote:
We all need kindness right now. You know what Ellen DeGeneris always says. She, by the way, is generally known as one of the most evil people alive. Reply to this post with the most telling story of how bad Ellen is behaving and I’ll donate $2 to Foodbank LA for every reply.
And away we go… The shit literally hit the fan. Thousands of people began sharing horror stories about how bad Ellen DeGeneres really is. They say she doesn’t even greet the guests before the show, but as soon as the cameras turn on, she feigns cordiality. Hundreds of her show’s employees shared stories about the unpleasant toxic atmosphere that reigned there. How Ellen ignores everyone, how they are forbidden to even look in her direction. How she mocks her writers and criticizes all their work, declaring “Why do you always write these unfunny jokes?” That she is aggressive and racist. And anyone who expressed the slightest dissatisfaction immediately quit.
Disgruntled employees were joined by celebrity stories. Everyone remembered how Dakota Johnson caught Ellen in a lie, admitting that she invited her to her birthday, but she didn’t come. And the Australian presenter said that when they hosted a joint episode, Ellen DeGeneris’ team gave orders to everyone and constantly repeated, “No one should talk to Ellen without permission or look in her direction. She will come, sit down, perform and leave.”
Ellen herself added to the growing criticism of coal. Then Covid was raging and the next episode of the show aired from her own home. The presenter began with a joke: “The first thing I realized from quarantine is that it feels like a prison. I’ve been walking around in the same clothes for 10 days now and there are only gays around me.”
It would seem like a common joke for this show… But Ellen DeGeneris was bombarded with criticism that she lives in a mansion worth millions of dollars, unlike her viewers. And in general, it’s as if he doesn’t understand that people are dying from Covid and suffering.
Ellen DeGeneris, in response to criticism, said that she did not establish the corporate culture on the show and that the managers were to blame for the toxicity. She will improve. Many stars supported her. And the TV channel had no intention of canceling her super-rated show.
The expectation that the hype on social networks would subside on its own did not work. New episodes of the show had 43% fewer viewers than before. More than a million viewers stopped watching the program. The show quickly closed.
Now Ellen DeGeneris is traveling around the United States with a stand-up performance. The special is coming out on Netflix soon. And she said that this would be her last appearance on screen. The presenter blames a targeted misogynistic attack for her failure. And the public is trying to get used to the seemingly obvious truth of life – people on stage are not at all the same as those off it. They are pretending. And the most influential and richest people in show business are certainly not cute, good-natured bunnies based on universal justice and brilliant talent.
Some rub their hands gloatingly and say, “ Oprah Winfrey will be next.” Maybe it will. But it’s harder to dig into her—she’s not a hypocritical comedian. But he’s just a hypocrite.