Ellen DeGeneres has confirmed her popular talk show is coming to an end following months of controversy.
Announcing her decision, the US star failed to touch on the bullying and toxic work culture claims. Instead, she told The Hollywood Reporter: "When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore."
But while DeGeneres alluded to new creative endeavours, it's impossible not to read into the fact that this past year has been marred in drama.
Last year, dozens of employees alleged that they had been sexually harassed and assaulted by senior members of staff on the show. Several celebrities also spoke out, accusing the comedian of "bullying" behaviour, which ran afoul of her "Be Kind" mantra.
In fact, DeGeneres has been called out a number of times by some of Hollywood's most recognisable faces. From Mariah Carey to Dakota Johnson to Justin Bieber, here are six celebrities who clapped back at the talk show host...
1. Mariah Carey
In what made for some incredibly uncomfortable viewing, in 2008, Ellen pushed the legendary singer to announce her pregnancy whilst on the show.
When Carey quietly said that she would prefer not to discuss that topic on national television, DeGeneres proceeded to ask her to "toast with champagne" — effectively making her admit whether she was expecting as pregnant women are discouraged from drinking alcohol.
"I can't believe you did this to me, Ellen," Carey then said, to which the talk show host quipped: "Let's toast to you not being pregnant if you're not pregnant."
The now-51-year-old attempted to divert DeGeneres by making excuses about the time of day and the "fattening" effects of champagne. The host responded by shouting, "You're pregnant!"
The Always Be My Baby singer sadly miscarried not long after the interview.
The clip resurfaced on social media 18 years later when the scandal surrounding DeGeneres broke.
Speaking about the moment in an August 2020 interview with Vulture, Carey asserted that she was "extremely uncomfortable with that moment."
"And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath," she continued to the publication. "I wasn't ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage. I don't want to throw anyone that's already being thrown under any proverbial bus, but I didn't enjoy that moment. [There's an] empathy that can be applied to those moments that I would have liked to have been implemented. But what am I supposed to do? It's like, 'What are you going to do?'"
2. Dakota Johnson
Following the end of Ellen DeGeneres' popular daytime talk show, many people took to Twitter to praise actress Dakota Johnson, whom they believe threw "the first brick" in the 63-year-old's "cancellation".
Johnson's infamous appearance of the show happened back in late 2019, when the comedian claimed that Johnson had not invited her to her birthday party. The 50 Shades of Grey actress swiftly retaliated. "Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen."
And it didn't end there. The conversation had several more awkward moments, such as when Johnson continued: "Last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me a bunch of sh*t about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited."
DeGeneres retaliated: "Well, who doesn’t want to be invited to a party?", to which the actress said: "Well, I didn’t even know you liked me."
Then, the talk show host brought up the fact that Tig Notoro performed a surprise standup set at one of her own parties, and Johnson then said that he is, in fact, her "favourite comedian".
She quickly added, "Other than you!" But the damage was already done...
3. Hasan Minhaj
In April of 2019, comedian Hasan Minhaj went viral after he taught DeGeneres how to pronounce his name — sparking a conversation online about the double standards faced by people of colour with "difficult" names.
DeGeneres introduced Minhaj by his first name, to which he replied "No".
She countered with "Yes". But the comedian persisted: "I actually wanna do this on national television, and this is actually a big deal because my parents are here," he asserted, before giving the correct pronunciation of his name. "If you can pronounce Ansel Elgort, you can pronounce Hasan Minhaj."
He later recounted the incident during his Netflix show, Patriot Act. "You'll have people who are like, 'This is my Chinese name, this is my American name.' But I'm like, 'Dude, fuck that.' Your name's your name," he told the audience during the standup special.
"Mom and Dad are sitting there ... And Ellen's just like 'Hey, Ha-SAN!'" Minhaj stated — incorrectly emphasizing his first name. "I looked in the audience ... and my mom who gave me that name is just like 'eugh.' And I'm like 'Dude, what am I doing?' I have a show with my f*cking name on it and I'm still being like, 'It's with Sean!'"
"And so I was like, 'All right, Ellen, just let's do this right now. ’Cause we can pronounce Timothée Chalamet, so we're gonna do this right now," he added.
4. Celine Dion
In 2007, during the My Heart Will Go On singer's appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the comedian took aim at Celine's young son, René-Charles.
She showed a picture of Dion with her husband and son, and asked her why she hadn't gotten her little boy a haircut: "Look at his hair? When are you going to cut that hair?"
The pop star was less than impressed, replying, "Do you have a problem with that?, to which DeGeneres retorted, "No, I don’t have a problem. That is some long hair.”
Dion continued: "You know I have to say it's amazing right, some people shave the head of the children and they say 'Isn't that terrible'. I don't even cut my son's hair and they say 'Oh when are you going to cut his hair? Whatever I do, I won't please everyone. I can assure every mother here, René-Charles makes his own decisions."
5. Taylor Swift
Perhaps one of the most uncomfortable exchanges with the talk show host was Taylor Swift's in 2012 — where DeGeneres repeatedly hassled her about her love life.
"Which song on the new album is about Zac Efron?" she asked Swift, who replied by saying that they never dated. DeGeneres then made a "crazy" motion, and said "Ok".
The now-62-year-old then played a game where she flashed images of her former lovers on the big screen. Swift was naturally horrified, and almost burst into tears.
"I don't want to, I don't want to, please stop," she insisted, putting her head in her hands. "Don't send me angry emails, stop it stop! Every time I come up here you make me feel so bad about myself by putting a different dude up there on the screen and it really makes me question what I stand for as a human being."
6. Cher
The Goddess of Pop went so far as to call DeGeneres a "b*tch".
When the comedian asked ''Does chocolate turn anybody on?'', Cher replied: "I love it. I don’t get it much, but I love chocolate and cake.''
''You eat chocolate, and you’re like, in the mood?” DeGeneres continued.
''No, no,” Cher replied. “It’s like, I don’t get to have chocolate. I’m working on my body, and I just don’t… I have chocolate, I’m lying.”
''And then it turns you on?” DeGeneres maintained, evidently trying to get a reaction.
“No, it doesn’t turn me on!” Cher said, clearly exasperated. ''I didn’t mean it in that way. B*tch.''
7. Zac Efron and Taylor Swift
The pair called out DeGeneres by performing a version of Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks.
Notable lyrics included: "Ellen works a long day / Giving weird interviews in a slick, cool sweater / And it gets kinda weird / Yeah, calling us like we're boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Every single time I come on this show / It's really weird / Really weird /All because of Ellen / Ellen hiding in the bathroom with a hidden camera / And she scared me so bad and I fell and I could've died / She's always asks me who I'm dating / Every time I'm on this show / And I don't even know why / But it gets five million hits on YouTube
8. Brad Garret
Brad Garret called out the talk show host following allegations that she created a toxic workplace.
The Everybody Loves Raymond alum, 60, claimed on Twitter that DeGeneres bears responsibility for the events that transpired.
"Sorry but it comes from the top @TheEllenShow," he wrote, in a since-deleted tweet, tagging DeGeneres. "Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge."
Garrett has appeared as a guest on her talk show six times between 2004 and 2007.
9. NikkiTutorials
Following her appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Nikki de Jager, slammed the talk show host for alleged mistreatment.
In February of 2020, the beauty vlogger told host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk on De Wereld Draait Door that her experience with the popular comedian wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. "It's really nice that you came over and said hello to me... She didn't," she told Nieuwkerk about her time with Ellen, where she discussed coming out as transgender.
"Call me naive, but I kind of expected to be welcomed with confetti cannons: 'Welcome to The Ellen DeGeneres Show!' But instead, I was greeted by an angry intern who was a bit overworked," she said. "I was expecting a Disney show but got Teletubbies After Dark."
To Dutch magazine &C, she later added: "Every guest at Ellen's had a private toilet, but I didn't. I was not allowed to use the nearest toilet because it was reserved for the Jonas Brothers. Why do they get a private toilet? I thought. But in the end, my [interview] had 8 million views afterwards and theirs 2 million, ha!"
10. Katy Perry
DeGeneres once forgot that Katy Perry was married to Russell Brand, and it made for some awkward viewing, especially as it came after the talk show host did an entire segment on their marriages several years prior...
Perry sat down on the show to play a game of "Will You Perry Me?" in 2017. It involved the pop star choosing between two possible beaus, and while the comedian was explaining the rules, Perry asked: "Do I have to get married… again?"
DeGeneres replied, "You were not married."
"I was when I was 25," the singer responded, to which DeGeneres asked, "Were you?"
"Yeah, it’s been a long time, honey. No wrinkles, no lines," Perry said, before whispering, "His name was Russell Brand. Remember you gave me some wedding gifts on this show? Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool."
"That’ll be cut out," DeGeneres replied. Ouch!
11. Justin Bieber
In 2015, the Yummy singer had to actively tell the comedian to stop putting him "on the spot".
During his appearance on the daytime show, DeGeneres quizzed Bieber over his nude paparazzi run-in, where he was caught naked by the press while vacationing with Bora Bora with an undisclosed woman back in 2015.
Things became uncomfortable when she started asking him about the young woman. "Is that your girlfriend?" she asked.
"No, it’s not," Bieber said, adding that she was "just a friend," to which DeGeneres retorted: "You just brought a friend to Bora Bora? And you’re just naked with your friend?"
"Why are you putting me on the spot like this?" Bieber answered, when the comedian persisted, Bieber maintained his stance, saying: "Stop. You’re making me blush, dude."
