Netflix
After largely laying low since her show went off the air in 2022, Ellen DeGeneres is set to make a comeback as her new standup comedy special will be hitting Netflix later this year.
In addition to the upcoming Netflix special, DeGeneres will also be embarking on a summer stand-up tour that will begin in San Diego, California on June 19.
While DeGeneres’ Netflix special, her first on the streamer since 2018’s Relatable, does not yet have an official title, the 66-year-old said in a statement that she would be talking about “it,” meaning the allegations of on-set bullying that ultimately resulted in her cancelation and the alteration of her public perception.
“To answer the questions everyone is asking me – Yes, I’m going to talk about it. Yes, this is my last special. Yes, Portia [de Rossi, her wife] really is that pretty in real life,” DeGeneres said in a statement.
In July 2020, ten former Ellen Show employees accused DeGeneres of creating a toxic work environment with instances of “racist micro-aggressions and abuse.”
DeGeneres was also accused of, among other things, firing an employee who set up a GoFundMe for medical costs that were not covered by the show’s insurance, being “one of the meanest people alive” (according to comedian Kevin T. Porter), terminating employees for taking medical or bereavement leave, and replacing her crew with non-union workers (scabs) during the early days of 2020.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness—no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” she said in a statement at the height of the allegations. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
After the allegations against DeGeneres went public and the subsequent controversy gained momentum, The Ellen DeGeneres Show lost millions of viewers, ultimately leading her to announce in May 2021 that the show would conclude in 2022.