Yikes.
Ellen Degeneres has revealed the not-so-pleasant response she got from Elton John after she bravely burst out of the closet in 1997 via her ABC sitcom, Ellen.
What’s more, she had never even met Elton.
That didn’t stop him from weighing in.
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Related: Read the “shocking” interview Ellen gave 20 years ago: “Yep, I’m Gay”
Speaking on the American Expert podcast, Ellen told host Dax Shepard:
“Even Elton John said, ‘Shut up already. We know you’re gay. Be funny.’
“I had never met him and I thought, ‘What kind of support is that from a gay person?'”
The response from the music icon stung, only adding to the difficulty she faced with depression in the aftermath of her big decision to speak her truth.
“Everybody assumed I was just nonstop talking about. It hurt my feelings,” she said.
Related: Ellen DeGeneres Thought She’d Never Come Out Publicly
“People were making fun of me. I was really depressed.”
And depression wasn’t her only struggle after the episode aired.
“And because of that and because the show was canceled, I was looked at as a failure in this business.
“No one would touch me. I had no agent, I had no possibility of a job, I had nothing.”
Listen to the full interview below:
DCguy
What a shock, the guy who played at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding didn’t like somebody being out and proud.
pudman56
I am and have been so over this idiot that doesn’t realize or accept his irrelevance.
happiness17
Elton John has had really awesome songs throughout the years. That said it sounds like can be quite a “beech” and a friken queen!
GayEGO
Naw, Ellen should not shut up. I came out and announced that I was gay to my family and at work. Shame on Elton, a gay married man.
Theweatherman
Elton John is a nasty queen. He has a lot of anger issues. “Money can’t buy you class. Elegance is learned.” The Countess is disappointed in you Mr. John.
jon2051
Got that spot in! Nasty queen, boozer, plus his singing voice is a C at best.
Polaro
Elton really does not seem like a nice person, based on a series of nasty things like this.
MinnesotaNotNice
Elton is an old, bitter, tired queen who matters not one bit. His performing at one (or more) of Flush Limbaugh’s weddings, did it for me. I know he tried to spin it so many nice ways, but in the end, it seemed to be all about the money which Elton seems so desperately in need of.
Ummmm Yeah
About the only decent thing he’s ever said or done, is give to charities. But since he’s such an ass the rest of the time he probably only does that for tax purposes.
Glynn
And Renate Blauel must have uttered these words at some point: ‘Elton, for Christ’s sake shut up already. Just go bash out a tune. But NOT Song for Guy’.
barkomatic
A lot of gay guys were trying to gain acceptance back then by making disparaging remarks about other gay people because they received a popular response.
Kangol
I vividly remember the hell Ellen DeGeneres went through when she bravely came out on her show. It’s hard to believe that so many people, including many in Hollywood, acted so hatefully toward her, but it also shows the journey LGBTQ have made in the years since. She’ll always have my respect for her bravery.
OrchidIslander
@Kangol, I couldn’t agree with you more. To me, the only aspect of her that exceeds her bravery is her generosity. Good post.
troyfight
Yep, Elton-is-in-a-bubble….do not put much stock in his bitchiness –>worthless drama.
dean089
Back in the ’70s when Elton John could have been a gay role model, when we NEEDED a gay role model, Elton John was hiding behind the old “bisexual” label. As I recall, he even married a woman for a while. Then in the ’80s after MTV swept Elton John into the has-been dustbin, he reinvented himself as the original homosexual. It was never about us, never about using his fame or celebrity to help anyone, it was always about him. Nothing has changed. Return to the dustbin, Reginald.
Polaro
Oddly, Elton hasn’t had a good song since coming out., and we was great at one time. Maybe he should have stayed in the closet.
ddevine
Elton John is a music legend. And a real bitch. One is admirable. The other is not.
Brody
“Sorry seems to be the hardest word.”
-Elton John
rogue4gay
Serious folks???? Compare your comments about Elton John to his comment about Ellen! My guess is that his comment was made very pragmatically. You’re a comedian, focus on being funny, not being gay. Elton John never made his music about being gay.
LABrad
rogue4gay Yeah, I don’t like Elton very much, but these comments are ridiculous. I’m surprised Ellen even brought this up. Even more shocking is that she claims that coming out ruined her career and caused her show to be canceled. That’s a joke. It was the only thing that saved her career. Today she is the second highest paid female celebrity in the world. (after Beyonce)
Dinodogstar
Sadly, though we’d like to maybe believe lgbtq people are somehow better than the average, we’re probably not. Yep, while i DO think being gay, if you’ve had that self-realization during your teens or before, the trials if it DO inspire sympathy and compassion. But often, too often, ‘gay people are just people who happen to be gay, and don’t possess some super-human graces and nobility. The “person’ part of the “gay person” identity, means we can be just as dumb, smart, hateful, kind, greedy, generous, ugly or beautiful as the average straight sample person chosen. While the PERCEPTION of lgbtq people as being kind and nice and non-violent and all that is nice, and has got us THIS FAR, so far, it’s really moved us to this point from the NICE STRAIGHT people who control the culture, and who ALSO recognize being a good person isn’t connected to who you find cute on a Saturday. night. ONLY HUMAN BEINGS WHO LEAD PURPOSELY SELF-EXAMINED LIVES, BECOME FULLY-EVOLVED AND CAN EXAMINE THE GOOD AND BAD AROUND US. Being ‘GAY” might / should / hopefully point you in that direction upward, but the steps come from the more base human desire to throw your feet froward and go there. Maybe we’re more artistic and kind, but it’s FAR from a given, case in point, when Elton, whom i appreciate so much, admits he could be a ” B – ” often in the past. ( Do i get points for NOT being typically male-styled, all misogynistic there? See, being ‘gay’ for me, I HOPE, is being AWARE, and FIGHTING what I or e=others might more readily-recognize BECAUSE we’ve been on the receiving end of bias, that i’d otherwise not relate to, as a not-really-under-privileged guy. Being KIND, and Ellen proves this daily, is being AWARE and so much so to CARE, and not aware and care only about who the latest male matinee idol is. ) IF you’re a THINKING, FEELING lgbtq person, THEN that part of your PERSON, not you’re ‘gayness’ , whatever the fck that even is or means, informs and directs your steps in life. While it’s not going to win me any praise or a coveted spot in the big pink convertible in the gay pride parade, gay people are people first, gay second, if at all really. (My book comes out in June. two working titles: first, maybe: “Gay is Good if You’re Like Me : How to Put Others in Their Place”. OR, i’m toying with his one: “Bish : How to Alter Offensive Mass Culture Slurs to be Less Not-Them, But still Mean. as Hell” .. Pre-order today. $19.95, two for $45 bucks.
Dinodogstar
WTF? Could it BE any longer and me be more of a prick than that ?! Well, that’s what Elton said to me on that magical night in the Meat Packing District in 1987. ……….
Dinodogstar
I’d lie to add this, that, as i said, gay people can just be people, good, bad AND poorly dressed, that he being out for me, and even more importantly in the late 80s, being open about his struggle with an eating disorder, when i didn’t know any other guys with it, gay ones at that like me, or really any other self-identified, proud gay gays really. On a funny note: My name is “Daniel”, and my mom, such a wise and charming total lair and player, told me the song “Daniel” influenced her naming decision for me. I was born a couple years BEFORE the damn thing,… little starry-eyed sweet gay boy me signing along in the faux wood-paneled station wagon in Suburbia to church on Sunday, feeling all special and graced and destined to greatness, the lousy B—–side song of “Skyline Pigeon”, being a far FAR worse name saddled with to go through life by. Most of the time, we lgbtqs AIN’T angels in America, but just in America, indistinguishable, neither good nor bad, better or worse, however that sells us to others and ourselves, right? Well. ME DANIEL IS, but whatever… Don’t shoot Elton, He’s only the piano player!
Dinodogstar
NOTE : I wrote “lie”, rather than ” like ” ! Freudian slip much ?!?!
Dinodogstar
Okay, last one.. promise…
What the article spoke to ME personally about, what how hyper-critical and demanding of PERFECTION from OTHER lgbtqs, with unattainable standards i NEVER apply or measure straightys by. Well, I use a tape measure, the kind i stole from my mom’s sewing kit at 13, but i digress…
The well-regarded and famous French writer, Voltaire. his pen name mind you, the big bish thinkin’ he was all the sht back in the 17th Century, with the big ole- unreal wig like he’s Wendy WIlliams or some sh^t, and goin’ by a one-word name, as if he’s the Cher or Madonna or Beyonce of the Age of Enlightenment, said this pertinent take on what being HUMAN, first, and always, means most, that we all seem to forget, most often : ” We are all full of weakness and errors ; let us mutually pardon each other (of) out follies. It is the first law of nature.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………The Dalai Lama stole this, revised it, and the big egotistical orange-moo-moo-wearing auntie said it well and maybe better : ” Imperfect myself, i must show compassion for others.”