Ellen DeGeneres Admits It Was 'Devastating' Being Labeled as Mean After Talk Show Scandal: 'It Consumed Me for a Long Time'

Mar. 15, 2025

Ellen DeGeneres.Photo:Netflix

Netflix

Two years afterThe Ellen DeGeneres Showcame to an end,Ellen DeGeneresis getting candid about howtoxic workplace allegations made against heraffected her mental health.

“I’m happy not being a boss or a brand or a billboard, just a person,” said DeGeneres, whose talk showran from 2003 to 2022 for 19 seasons.

Ellen Degeneres on ‘The Ellen Degeneres Show’.Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

“Just a multifaceted person with different feelings and emotions, and I can be happy and sad and compassionate or frustrated. I have OCD and ADD. I’m honest. I’m generous. I’m sensitive and thoughtful,” she continued. “But I’m tough, and I’m impatient, and I’m demanding. I’m direct. I’m a strong woman.”

After being met with roaring cheers from the audience and receiving a standing ovation, she mouthed “thank you” to the crowd and declared she was “proud of who I’ve become.”

Ellen DeGeneres speaking during ‘Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval’.Wilson Webb/Netflix

Wilson Webb/Netflix

“When you’re a public figure, you’re open to everyone’s interpretation. And I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that, ‘What other people think of me is none of my business.’ Because people will say all kinds of things and you have no control over that. But you know the truth and that’s all that matters,” she said.

DeGeneres shared that being in comedy made her “care what people think” because “it’s our only real currency for success.”

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“If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t, you’re out. And I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me. So, the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time,” she said, noting that she’s gained “perspective” with aging.

“After a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore. So I don’t. But if I’m being honest… and I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who was mean or someone who was beloved. Be-lov-ed? Beloved? Beloved. Someone who is beloved? …. " DeGeneres said before adding, “I choose that.”

Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres during a 2012 episode of ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.Courtesy of Everett

Courtesy of Everett

Although DeGeneres' long-running talk showended in May 2022, nearly two years after BuzzFeed News' report was published, she previously toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat the allegationsdidn’t factor into her decision to conclude the series.

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Ellen Degeneres: For Your Approvalis now available to stream on Netflix.

source: people.com