Ellen DeGeneres has apparently decided it’s time to bid farewell to the limelight.
In a candid moment during her Ellen’s Last Stand…Up comedy tour, the 66-year-old star announced to her audience that she is officially retiring from showbiz.
The iconic comedian, who ran one of the most successful daytime talk shows in television history, took her standup set to Santa Rosa, California, on July 1.
For fans, the show evoked fond memories of The Ellen DeGeneres Show as the renowned entertainer danced during the warm-up act and also interacted with her audience in a Q&A session.
A hopeful fan asked her whether they would be able to see more of her onscreen or on stage.
“Will we see you on Broadway or movies?” the fan asked, according to SFGate.
“Um, no,” the comedian replied. “This is the last time you’re going to see me. After my Netflix special, I’m done.”
She gave a similar response of being done with Hollywood when another fan asked her to revive her role of Dory from the beloved Finding Nemo franchise.
“No, I’m going bye-bye, remember,” she said.
Ellen DeGeneres said she will be “done” after her Netflix special, saying: “This is the last time you’re going to see me”
Image credits: Casey Durkin/Getty Images
Her comments sparked mixed reactions, with one fan saying, “Love you Ellen! …haters gonna hate, but I love you because no one is perfect!”
“She had a good run,” another said.
On the other hand, critics expressed that they are happy she’s “done.”
“Wonderful news,” one said, while another wrote, “No Ellen, we’re done with you lol.”
“I was hoping she was already gone!” another chimed in.
“Good I bet a lot of people are happy,” one said.
“Bless her sadistic heart,” said yet another.
Ellen’s talk show came to an unceremonious end amid controversies and allegations of a toxic work environment. The abrupt conclusion was influenced by declining viewership and public scrutiny, which overshadowed its previous successes.
Two years after the famous talk show was canceled, she updated the nearly sold-out crowd at the venue about what has been happening in her life since.
“Thank you for still caring!” she said. “Let me catch you up on what’s been going on with me since you last saw me. I got chickens.”
“Oh yeah, and I got kicked out of show business for being mean,” she added.
Haters welcomed the news of the comedian’s Ellen’s Last Stand… Up comedy tour being her last
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Image credits: Netflix Is A Joke
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Image credits: Netflix Is A Joke
The Emmy winner joked about the drastic realizations she has had since.
“I used to say, ‘I don’t care what people say about me,’” she shared. “Now, I realize I said that during the height of my popularity.”
She then joked, “Next time, I’ll be kicked out for being old. Old, gay, and mean: the triple crown.”
The influential media figure then explained that she is a “strong woman” but is not “mean.”
“I can be demanding and impatient and tough,” she said. “I am a strong woman. I am many things, but I am not mean.”
A year after The Ellen DeGeneres Show came to an end, a source told ET that she has not retired.
“Ellen is not retired. She did not renew her show, but she has never not worked,” the source said. “Although she has taken some time off from acting, she has a number of brands, an upcoming documentary as part of her Discovery deal, etcetera, that she is working on.”
The insider also mentioned how the former talk show host and her wife of more than 15 years, Portia de Rossi, were also engaging in animal welfare efforts.
“Animal welfare is near and dear to Ellen and [wife Portia de Rossi]; they have donated a ton of money and do a lot of hands-on volunteer work to help animals,” the source told the outlet.
Her ongoing multi-city standup tour is her second with Netflix after 2018’s Relatable tour
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Image credits: TheEllenShow
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Image credits: TheEllenShow
The Ellen’s Last Stand…Up tour is her second with Netflix after 2018’s Relatable tour.
Expected to be her last set of shows, the multi-city standup tour began June 19 in San Diego.
The star said ahead of the tour: “To answer the questions everyone is asking me, yes, I’m going to talk about it. Yes this is my last special. Yes, Portia really is that pretty in real life.”
The set will drop on Netflix later this year.
“There is nobody quite like Ellen,” said Robbie Praw, the vice president of Stand-Up and Comedy Formats at Netflix. “She is a true legend and pioneer in so many ways. We can’t wait to bring fans another one of her hilarious comedy specials later this year.”
During one of the tour stops in West Hollywood in April, the comedian joked about how a “mean” person wouldn’t do some of the things she did on her show.
“Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business,” she told her audience. “There’s no mean people in show business. … I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f— yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
She also mentioned how this isn’t the first time she has been canceled by Hollywood, making a reference to how the curtains fell on her 90s sitcom Ellen after she came out as gay in 1997.
“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business … Eventually, they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay,” she said during the April show. “It’s been such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem. There’s such extremes in this business. People either love you and idolize you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.”
“It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal,” she continued. “I just thought, ‘Well, this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’ […] I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much, and I just hated that the last time people would see me [was] that way.”
