Ellen DeGeneres Finally Revealed the Real Reason She Moved to the UK After Her Former Staff Called Her ‘Mean’: ‘I Wish…’
Ellen DeGeneres is speaking out. The former talk show host broke her silence on why she made the big move to another country after her big controversy.
Ellen’s self-titled talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired its final episode in 2022. The cancellation came after some members of her staff accused her of creating a toxic workplace environment. A report from Buzzfeed News cited numerous employees who alleged racism, sexual misconduct, and intimidation at the hands of executive producers at The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In her 2024 Netflix stand-up special Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, she talked about being “the most hated person in America,” saying: “I got kicked out of show business. There’s no mean people in show business.”
“The hate went on for a long time and I would try to avoid looking at the news,” she continued. “The ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind. I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps.”
The comedian moved to the Cotswolds in the UK with her wife Portia Di Rossi in 2024. However, she remains clear on her stance on whether she’ll move back to the US.
Why did Ellen DeGeneres move to the UK?
Ellen DeGeneres cited Trump’s presidential win as the main reason she moved away from the US. Talking to British broadcaster Richard Bacon, she talked about her thought process. “We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in’,” she said. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here’.”
“She also talked about how conservative values influenced her decision to get married in the UK. The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” Ellen said. “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”
She added, “I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”
The Finding Nemo voice actress also addressed the workplace accusations. “No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, ‘She’s mean,’ and it’s like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or ‘poor me’ or complaining?” she said. “t’s as simple as, I’m a direct person, and I’m very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that…I’m mean?”
The 67-year-old comedian isn’t so sure about what she has in store for the future, but would pick her next move “very carefully.” She said she would love to host a UK television show, but has some reservations about it. “I mean, I wish it did, because I would do the same thing here. I would love to do that again, but I just feel like people are watching on their phones, or people aren’t really paying attention as much to televisions, because we’re so inundated with with information and entertainment.”
“I just don’t know what that is yet,” she confessed about her future plans. “I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I’m a little bit bored.”
