Will revenge be part of Ellen DeGeneres' show business comeback?
As Ellen DeGeneres tried out a new comedy act Wednesday, she addressed the toxic workplace claims made against her in 2020 — a scandal that effectively damaged her reputation as the genial, “be kind” celebrity.
The 66-year-old comedian, actor and TV personality also addressed whether she would “seek revenge” against those who “wronged” her, according to Rolling Stone. The people who “wronged” DeGeneres could be the executives in Hollywood who decided her fate, the employees who made the complaints, the entertainment media or anyone in American who joined the online backlash that led to her being labeled as “secretly mean.”
Amid the scandal, DeGeneres also decided to give up her eponymous day-time talk show, which went off the air in May 2022 after nearly 20 years.
“What else can I tell you?” DeGeneres mused to the crowd at the Largo at the Coronet in West Hollywood, “mock-reflecting on her recent past,” Rolling Stone said.
DeGeneres said with sarcasm: “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There's no mean people in show business.”
“I used to say that I didn't care what other people thought of me and I realized ... I said that at the height of my popularity,” DeGeneres said.
Wednesday's stand-up routine marked DeGeneres first “meaningful” return to public life, Rolling Stone said. Save for appearing in a 2023 Discovery Channel documentary on gorillas, DeGeneres has mostly laid low since the end of her show.
DeGeneres is taking her comedy act on the road, including three nights, June 30 and July 1-2 at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa. She revealed to the crowd of some 200 Wednesday night that the show will be recorded for a Netflix special.
Rolling Stone said DeGeneres spent a fair amount of time Wednesday addressing the toxic workplace allegations, which dominated headlines in the summer of 2020