Ellen DeGeneres Confesses She ‘Got Kicked Out’ of Showbiz for These Reasons in Latest Stand-Up

Ellen DeGeneres, the once-beloved talk show presenter celebrated for her kindness, opened up about the darker side of her industry on Wednesday, April 24. DeGeneres recently addressed her fall from grace in a comedic stand-up set at the Largo in Los Angeles, where she joked about getting 'kicked out of show business' for 'being mean.'

“What else can I tell you?” she thought out loud before sarcastically commenting on the 'toxic' allegations leveled against her before her show got canceled. She stated, “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There are no mean people in show business.” The 66-year-old performer, known for her jovial demeanor and charitable deeds, had a dramatic turnabout in her life recently, according to Rolling Stone.

Executive producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show were accused of racism, sexual misconduct, and intimidation in 2020 after a series of scathing stories by BuzzFeed News. Three of the show's senior executives were fired due to the investigation that followed, a widespread fan backlash against the program, and a subsequent apology from DeGeneres herself was issued, as per PEOPLE. At the time, DeGeneres 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."

Although DeGeneres claimed she was unaware of the hostile work culture, she took accountability for the show's atmosphere and apologized publicly. The show's reputation was severely damaged despite her attempts to repair it, and in May 2022, after 19 seasons, it was canceled. “The ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind,” DeGeneres continued. “I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up the steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f*ck yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

Other than an occasional social media post and a 2023 Discovery Channel program, DeGeneres has mostly stayed out of the public eye since then. Her most recent stand-up tour marks her biggest comeback to the spotlight since the scandal broke out. Recognizing that she 'loved that show so much,' DeGeneres said she 'hated the way the show ended' and didn't want the public's bad opinion of her to taint her final appearance.

"I'm making jokes about what happened to me, but it was devastating," she shared. "It took a long time for me to want to do anything again." As she concluded, DeGeneres expressed her gratitude to the audience for coming back to the stage to provide some 'joy' to what she deemed to be 'a scary time' in life. "I think that we need more laughter and less drama," she opined.