Ellen DeGeneres Reflects on Double Exit from Show Business during “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour”

When Ellen DeGeneres took to the stage for her “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour,” she couldn’t help but joke about being kicked out of show business twice, first with the cancellation of her sitcom in 1998 and now after wrapping up season 19 of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2022. The comedian poked fun at how the talk show’s friendly tone had transformed into a one-dimensional persona who just gave stuff away and danced steps, joking that if she ended her program by saying something mean, people would have been pleasantly surprised instead of taken aback. DeGeneres acknowledged during her set that being kicked out of show business twice – the first time after coming out as gay in 1997 – had affected her self-esteem and left her feeling hurt when some viewers turned against her following allegations about a toxic work environment on “The Ellen Show” in 2020. In conversation with the Largo audience, DeGeneres revealed that she struggled to understand why people could be so cruel after experiencing such negative feedback. She added: “I just hated the way the show ended.” Nonetheless, despite all of this drama surrounding her recent exit from TV land, DeGeneres’ “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour” will continue throughout spring and summer at several different dates before heading over to Netflix in future projects aimed directly toward standup fans around globe.