In what has been advertised as her final stand-up comedy special, Ellen DeGeneres has denied former associates' allegations of creating a hostile work environment throughout her career.
DeGeneres, whose long-running program The Ellen DeGeneres Show ended in 2022 after 19 seasons over "toxic" workplace allegations, discussed her career in Hollywood in her latest Netflix special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, which premiered Tuesday.
The comedian began the special by filling her audience in on her life during the last two years since her show ended.
“I got chickens. … Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business for being mean," DeGeneres joked. “I got kicked out of show business. Yeah, because I’m mean. You can’t be mean and be in show business. They’ll kick you out. No mean people in show business."
DeGeneres joked that the allegations over a toxic work environment on her show was a "big story" that "had some legs."
“I came across a headline that said, ‘How Ellen DeGeneres became the most hated person in America.’ Now I didn’t see the other names on the ballot, but I have to — it’s an impressive title, it really is," the comedian joked. “I’m impatient, and demanding, direct. I’m a strong woman” - Ellen DeGeneres, conflating strength with being a tyrannical boss that ruled with fear and to this day will chase down any NDA’d former employee with a pack of lawyers that dare speak ill of herpic.twitter.com/eL74hVGdG7
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) September 25, 2024
DeGeneres then explained her perspective on the matter adding she was a comedian who was given a talk show.
"I ended the show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to one another,'” DeGeneres explained. “Yeah, I know, it seemed like a good idea. … Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f--- yourselves,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”
The comedian then compared her soft-cancelation to coming out as a lesbian in 1997.
“Kicked me out before because I told them I was gay. No gay people in show business. They kick you out. Can’t be gay and be in show business,” DeGeneres joked. “Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old — mean, old, and gay, the triple crown.”
As DeGeneres' performance winded down, the comedian explained that she took complaints of her being "mean" to heart.
Near the end of the hour-plus special, DeGeneres looped back around to being labeled mean.
“Because being in this business, I have had to care what people think … and I have spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy. And I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me," she said.
“So, the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me. And it consumed me for a long time,” DeGeneres added. “With perspective, caring what people think, to a degree, is healthy. But not if it affects your mental health.”
“So after a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore. So, I don’t,” she continued. “I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who is mean or someone who is beloved … beloved, I chose that.”
The comedian closed her final stand-up special by saying, “I’m so glad I got to say goodbye on my terms.”
