Ellen DeGeneres sought therapy after becoming ‘the most hated person in America’ after toxic workplace scandal
It wasn’t a laughing matter.
In “For Your Approval,” which is touted as Ellen DeGenres’s final stand-up special, the comedian opened up about her controversies.
“I got kicked out of show business because I’m mean,” DeGeneres, 66, told her audience.
“You can’t be mean and be in show business. They’ll kick you out. No mean people in show business.”
The special is streaming on Netflix and was taped last month at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre with a sold-out crowd that included her wife, Portia de Rossi, 51.
In the special, DeGeneres joked that this was her second strike.
“Kicked me out before because I told them I was out. No gay people in show business. They kick you out. Can’t be gay and be in show business,” she said, referring to how her career took a hit when she famously came out as lesbian in 1997 on her ABC sitcom, “Ellen.”
“Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old — mean, old and gay, the triple crown,” she joked.
The “Finding Dory” star also addressed her tarnished reputation and the rumors that she’s not nice.
“Yeah, you all heard I was mean. Everybody heard that I was mean. Everywhere I go, I know everyone’s heard that I’m mean,” she said.
She continued, “I know when I walk into a restaurant, people are watching, waiting to see if I’ll be mean. ‘Do you think she’ll be mean first and then dance?’ ‘Oh, look, she’s reaching for butter. I thought she was going to hit somebody.’”
DeGeneres was referring to a bombshell 2020 report, first broken by BuzzFeed News, in which several “Ellen DeGeneres Show” staffers accused the talk show of a toxic workplace environment. They also accused producers of racism and sexual misconduct. At the time, Warner Bros. investigated the complaints and ultimately fired several producers.
DeGeneres apologized at the time and addressed the allegations on air when the show returned for its 18th season.
But, the incident cast a pall over the comedian’s reputation. The Daytime Emmy-winning show ended in 2022 after nearly two decades on air.
In her stand-up special, DeGeneres talked about reading news headlines about how she was “the most hated person in America.”
She quipped, “It’s a horrible thing to say about somebody, and to make it worse, there was no trophy, no awards banquet, nothing. Just the title. I made a sash at home and I wore that around just to feel like I had something.”
More seriously, she added, “I was in therapy for a while trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me. And you know, it was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with.”
The star continued, “At one point, my therapist said, ‘Ellen, where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’ And 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.’”
She joked that she made the mistake of emphasizing “be kind” on her show.
“Here’s the problem: I’m a comedian who got a talk show and I ended the show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Yeah, I know, it seemed like a good idea,” she said.
“Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f–k yourselves,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”
