Ellen Degeneres just can’t seem to catch a break these days. After a string of negative stories in the press, calls for her talk show to be yanked off the air are gaining momentum.
Last month, the beloved TV host became the target of an internet smear campaign when she was accused by several former employees of being secretly mean. A week after that, she was criticized for joke she made about being in quarantine.
While broadcasting her first show from the living room of her $24 million mansion, Ellen compared being on lockdown to being in jail where everyone is gay, saying: “This is like being in jail, is what it is. Mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for ten days and everyone in here is gay.”
Related: Ellen just compared quarantining in her $24 million mansion to being in jail where “everyone is gay”
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The joke was met with a major backlash, with many calling out the comic for cracking a passé joke about prisoners being gay and making light of a deadly global pandemic. Now, a Change.org petition is calling for the comic to be fired from her job and replaced with a different Ellen.
Tales of the City actress Ellen Page.
“Ellen Page is a much better Ellen to host The Ellen Show,” the petition reads. “Ellen DeGeneres is a hetero that just happens to be gay. Ellen Page is a much better host because she’s way more gay.”
Last year, DeGeneres received criticism for her friendship with former president George W. Bush, despite his antigay political stances, and NFL superstar Drew Brees, despite his decade-long partnership with antigay hate group Focus on the Family.
She also took heat for defending Kevin Hart’s messy homophobic past, going so far as to say she accepted his apology on behalf of all LGBTQ people everywhere.
Related: Twitter users aren’t forgiving Ellen DeGeneres for forgiving Kevin Hart
Meanwhile, Page has developed quite a reputation in recent years for being an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ issues and for speaking out against homophobia.
In February 2019, she famously confronted actor Chris Pratt for his affiliation with Hillsong Church, a notoriously homophobic house of worship that supports conversion therapy and bans queer people from holding office.
“If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed,” she tweeted. “Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe.”
If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 9, 2019
She also called out the Trump Administration’s for inciting hate crimes, accused director Brett Ratner of bullying, and has confronted several antigay trolls in person.
So far, the Change.org petition drafting Page to replace DeGeneres has garnered over 8,000 signatures and counting.
Related: How ‘Tales of the City’ star Ellen Page found her voice as Hollywood’s queer advocate
frapachino
lol leftists eating their own, you helped perpetuate the ridiculous cancel culture Ellen , now you must live by those standard and face the mob, I love it!
Cam
Awwww, sweetie, it isn’t leftists eating their own. She’s friends with and defended Bush. She’s helping your gang.
That’s the reason you’re so upset, you don’t want somebody who’s helping the right wing whitewash itself getting any heat for doing that.
So nice try.
MISTERJETT
yep, nice try but no cigar!!!!
Catholicslutbox
Lol @ Ellen being a leftist. She’s as “leftist” as she is funny,
Zambos271
Really? I thought the boycott of the Dixie Chicks who made comments about President Bush, Nipplegate, and One Million Moms boycotting everything from Target to God knows what else that started the cancel culture.
Black Pegasus
I was done with her when she defended Kevin Hart’s little midget azz… His anti gay jokes hurt my community the most and she had an opportunity to hold him accountable but she instead chose to solidify her place within the Hollyweird crew. She also let quarterback Drew Brees slide when he was linked to anti gay Christian groups. So yes, yank her duplicitous azz off the airways. She has enough coins.
dboyd2557
Girl shut up. Tired of you snowflakes. As a black gay man I can take a joke. As a punk u wanna defend your fellow twink when he is hurt but not say anything about the rest of us when we our here struggling.
Bob LaBlah
I dont get the part about your community being hurt the most. Could you go a little deeper into that one?
Black Pegasus
@Bob LaBlah
I meant LGBT of color…
youarebetterthanthat
“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”— James Baldwin
Ellen is happy to “forgive” anyone, even when they are still homophobic, or even a possible war criminal like Bush, as long as she rakes in the ratings or gets to hang with the rich and powerful.
GonzaX
“The rich and the powrfull” stop talking so resentful.
Cam
The article said … “Last month, the beloved TV host became the target of an internet smear campaign when she was accused by several former employees of being secretly mean.”
_____________________
While I appreciate that you are quoting the article, in reality Ellen wasn’t accused of being mean, she was accused of being abusive, and borderline psychotic , as well as violating a host of employment laws.
DuMaurier
Just anecdotally, I have an incarcerated friend in the Illinois prison system, which has horrible virus-related problems he’s really scared about, and when I asked what he thought of Ellen’s jail joke he said it was hilarious.
SparkyMICH
Where’s the story?
Toofie
This really isn’t a story. How many petitions are put up there daily over nonsense? Queerty’s preoccupation with trashing Ellen every few days while there are more seriously fires burning makes no sense.
Mack
Many petitions are a joke. Anybody can get a petition going for some of the stupidest reasons. IF YOU DON’T LIKE ELLEN, DON’T WATCH THE SHOW. That’s what usually works in getting rid of someone.
Bob LaBlah
Its too late now but I’ll bet she wishes she had argued to put that show on hiatus for a month or so. I’d rather watch old cartoons that still make me laugh than her or Dr. Phil any way.
ScottOnEarth
I loath Ellen Degeneres but this is stupid. If everyone were fired for being ‘secretly mean,’ then Dolly Parton would be the only employed entertainer. Her prison joke was funny and CLEARLY not meant to be offensive. I think Ellen is dreadful and a complete sell-out (see Kevin Hart, GW Bush, etc.) but people are hating her for the wrong reasons here.
Chrisk
Not going to nitpick her. Yeah, she’s not perfect. Big woop. Not a fan of the people she’s sided up with but it’s not like she herself is advocating for them.
Ellen has put herself out there as an out Lesbian for decades now been very successful while doing it. I’ve seen her stand up show’s and the way young people still react to her. We need more advocates like that.
I like Ellen Paige but she doesn’t have the same comedic thing that makes an audience relate to them.
drmiller
This is utter NONSENSE. Ellen Degeneres has been blatantly kind to everyone, gives and gives, has based her entire brand on loving and welcoming everyone, and suddenly a few stories comes out saying she’s “mean” (seriously? Mean? Are you 12?) and suddenly we’re ready to cancel Ellen? This is complete crap. And as a gay person myself, I thought her gay prison joke was fking hilarious! If this was a meme floating around on the internet would be posting, re-posting, and sharing to everyone you know. It’s a joke. Laugh and move on. Everyone is so damn fragile lately, don’t we have enough going on that we can’t just laugh at a comedians joke and move on to the next thing? I stand behind Ellen fully. I’m not ready to destroy someone’s reputation and career because of a few stories About her being “mean” (seriously can’t get over that word being used, it’s so juvenile). It’s not like she sexually assaulted someone. Move along folks. Ellen is in our community and she’s a strong one to have on our side. Get over it!
Jared MacBride
Just curious, do you know what a lemming is?
Josh447
dr, you nailed it. This whole scenario is pure crap.
TriggeredYou
Thank you for your reasonable reply !
?
cynthia_foxe
ellen corporation is paying bots like this to defend her sorry arse…
TheCrackOfDon
Ellen has been a great role model and a huge advocate for gay people. I seems to me Queerty is being “Mean” to Ellen and perhaps it’s time to pull the plug on this website.
Cam
Firing a woman for getting pregnant, etc… isn’t just mean. It’s abusive and illegal.
trsxyz
She may be mean, or she may not be mean. Who among us really knows? But I thought the joke was pretty funny. She was referring to the stay-at-home mandate, and it went like this: “This is like being in jail. Mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for ten days and everyone in here is gay.”
I am gay, and liberal, and I wasn’t offended. It made me laugh!
gaym50ish
So, what does it mean to be “a hetero who just happens to be gay”?
ellenpagepetition
i have no idea what it means but i thought it was funny. the petition was made as a joke i was expecting like 2 signatures
(i’m the one that wrote the petition)
Me2
Ellen D has absolutely nothing to worry about. People just have too much time on their hands and are misdirecting their frustrations.
dhmonarch89
Kathy Griffin has been saying she’s mean for 15 years….Let’s save time in the future- just listen to Kathy- whatever she says.
GentlemanCaller
This is why we can’t have nice things. Twitter warriors jumping on any rumor or gossip and demanding the immediate pillorying of the subject; the ongoing cry that X or Y “isn’t gay enough”; and the mass delusion that change.org petitions mean they’re “taking action” on such an important issue as an afternoon TV talk show. Just stop.
Cam
Except for the fact that multiple people who told about Ellen’s abuse, not only used their names, but sometimes broke non-disclosure agreements to do it…..and Ellen hasn’t sued.
one more thing
She should go to prison for such tasteless jokes! Lol…..
TruthBeKnown
And here we go again: We gays eating our own. SAD.
Josh447
Zactly. Why do that? I hear eating str8 guys is much more tasty.
nitejonboy
No surprise there, I’ve known for years she was a horrible person, ashamed to be from the same state as her, she puts on a face and gives people what they want but in reality she’s a little dictator who treats her minions like crap, she’s a mini Oprah. When will people wake up and end all the hero worship in this country ?? These people don’t pay your rent, they aren’t gods.
DawnTrans
Why not just give Ellen Page her own show and let the ratings judge who stays and who goes? I dont watch Ellen Degeneres show but infighting queens really need to put a cap on it.
Fang
Newsflash–nobody is perfect and the reaction to these allegations are disproportionately harsh. I do feel like this is an example of eating our own. Ellen has done a lot more good for our community than most LGBT media stars. We have bigger fish to fry.
Terrycloth
Her TV crew is not getting paid. .Jimmy kimmel is paying his entire staff and stage crew out of his OWN pocket..Ellen has 4 people working for her at the moment..I guess her motto at the end of her show ” be kind to each other ” is fine as long as it docent cost her money..she docent do anything without corporate sponsors..she has 40 other jobs net worth of $450 million lives in a $25 million mansion…she was on Youtube complain how bored she is..she is another hollywerid oddball who has one face for the camera another when its off ..she lives in a bubble .out of touch with us regular people.she loves you if you agree with her gay viewpoints ..if not she drops you like a hot potato
GonzaX
Lefties and the political correctness are acting really stupid against her again. Please.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
The NYDailynews reported today that her crew not only had to take a sixty percent pay cut but she has consulted with a non-union company, Key Core Media, to tape the show from her home. It seems she only brought four original crew members with her and she has told them they are going to get a pay cut. Ok, enough is enough. Give her her walking papers and let the door hit her square in her rear when she leaves.
Woteva
I just plain don’t like the woman and wasn’t at all surprised that several people who’d worked around her had stories. Her show plays here in the U.K. (on a low down the list terrestrial tv station) – she just comes over as fake to many of us Brits. All that stuff she gives away isn’t from her personal fortune, much of that comes from sponsorship in one way or another. Remember, she was huge back in the day when she had the sitcom – then the bubble burst and she couldn’t get arrested. That could happen again – difference now is that she probably wouldn’t have to move out of the 40 million dollar mansion.
cynthia_foxe
how do we get her show axed???