‘I was kicked out of showbusiness’: Ellen DeGeneres opens up before starring in new Netflix production

Ellen DeGeneres returned to the spotlight two years after her talk show was canceled.

She opened the first night of Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour, her new comedy show that will be on Netflix.

At age 66, she began her Hollywood gig by saying, “I didn’t care what anyone thought of me, and I realized… I said that at the height of my popularity.”

DeGeneres has had a rough few years, after staffers at the Ellen DeGeneres Show accused executive producers of toxic behavior.

Three producers were fired amid allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment, and DeGeneres apologized on air, but in May 2021 she announced that the show would end the following year after 19 seasons.

DeGeneres told the Los Angeles audience that she has taken up a lot of gardening since the show ended and has kept chickens as pets – adding that as a former talk show host, she enjoys the pressure of having to lay an egg every the days.

“What else can I say?” she added.

“Oh yeah, I got kicked out of the entertainment business. There are no bad people in the entertainment business.”

People’s Esther Kang, who was at the show, wrote, “Even though Ellen DeGeneres is looking back on her talk show with a sense of humor, she can’t deny that her unceremonious exit left deep wounds.”

Kang added: “After reflecting on how she became the ‘most hated person in America’ amid the tumultuous headlines, DeGeneres said the torment reduced her television persona to a shadow of its former glory.

“‘The hate lasted a long time and I tried to avoid looking at the news,’ she recalled. ‘The girl who preached kindness was not kind. That was the headline.’

“Noting how she ended her talk show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to each other,’ DeGeneres joked that this became a ‘problem’ because people began to think of her as a ‘one-dimensional character who gave things away and danced. down the steps'”.

The comedian also referenced the cancellation of her 1990s sitcom – which occurred after she came out as gay.