Ellen Degeneres recently reflected on her fall from showbusiness in a stand-up comedy routine.
Ellen faced public backlash in 2020 for accusations of a toxic workplace on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Eleven employees autonomously expressed the work environment was riddled with “racism, fear, and intimidation” in a BuzzFeed article. Though the blame was primarily placed on executive producers, the backlash led to the demise of the show and Ellens’s reputation.
After public scrutiny, Degeneres apologized to her staff and let three producers go following an internal investigation. Her attempts to save face were ineffective, as her show was canceled in 2022.
Degeneres reflects on her fall from grace during a stand-up comedy routine. She joked, “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There are no mean people in show business.”
Degeneres got vulnerable in the post-show question and answer, as she reflected on her demise from stardom, saying, “‘What is going on, it was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal. I just thought ‘Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’”
Degeneres notes in her stand-up routine that this is not her first exile from show business. Her show and status were temporarily lost in 1997 when she publicly came out as a lesbian.
She says, “For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show businesses. Eventually, they’re going to kick me out a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay”
She notes that these are very different circumstances, with this time around seeming more difficult for her to manage. She says, “It’s been such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem. There such extremes in this business; people either love you and idolize you, or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.”
The stand-up routine where she reflects on her time in show business will be released as a Netflix special in the fall.
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