They're two of the biggest talk show hosts around, and have a shared experience of overcoming significant adversity to find worldwide fame and huge financial success. Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres share a friendship based on a mutual understanding of what it means to be such a high profile personality in the daytime TV field.
DeGeneres's reputation took a heavy blow in July 2020 when bullying allegations emerged against the star. A Buzzfeed report claimed Ellen had been racially insensitive and had also bullied and even harassed others behind the scenes, based on interviews with 36 former staffers. The claims were devastating for Ellen and her eponymous show, and it was not long before she officially announced the upcoming end of Ellen after 19 hugely successful seasons.
Oprah seems to have been a support to her friend in the months following the revelations, but how exactly has the news changed their friendship?
6 Ellen Has Denied Quitting Her Show Because Of The Bullying Allegations
“If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year,” Ellen has said, when asked if it was behind her decision to end Ellen. “I really did think about not coming back because … it was devastating,” she said of the Buzzfeed report. “I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy.”
5 She Was Forced To Make An On-Air Apology To Her Fans
During the first episode of Ellen's 18th season in September 2020, the host was forced to make an on-air apology to viewers: “I learned that things happened here that should never have happened,” she said. “I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”
4 Though She Claimed To Be Unaware Of Inappropriate Behaviour On The Set
“I don’t know how I could have known when there’s 255 employees here and there are a lot of different buildings, unless I literally stay here until the last person goes home at night,” she said. “It is my name on the show, so clearly it affects me and I have to be the one to stand up and say, ‘This can’t be tolerated.’ But I do wish somebody would have come to me and said, ‘Hey, something’s going on that you should know about.’”
3 Oprah Empathised With Ellen For Her Decision To End Her Talk Show
During a video chat with friend Oprah on the Today show, Ellen received sympathy from her close friend for her decision to walk away from Ellen.
“Listen, it’s almost 10 years ago ... when I was in this exact position. I know what those feelings are. I also know the feelings leading up to it,” Winfrey said
“Hearing you say, and announcing to the world, that it was your instinct and you thought long and hard about it — because anybody would know that for something that is as powerful as the show is in other people’s lives, that you would not take that lightly,” Winfrey continued.
2 She Knows Ellen Will Miss The Bond With Her Audience
“I always felt like I was a surrogate viewer and that I was there representing the audience. ... I really missed the camaraderie with the audience.”
Oprah told DeGeneres, “I think you will miss the camaraderie of the audience, but you also are out in the world — if you choose to do stand-up or not do stand-up — you get some of that feeling, that resonance from an audience.”
1 Ellen Declared Her "Love" For Oprah
It was during this intimate chat that the true depth of their friendship became clear.
“Just like you have shared yourself, the expression of your talent, in a way that has made people feel so much better about themselves all these years, that is what you’ve done, Ellen,” Winfrey said, emotionally.
“It’s so much more than the show. ... Every single person in your audience who has been touched by you, by your laughter, by your jokes, by your kindness, by your sharing, by your being, that’s your legacy. And that’s why this is such a profound day.”
It was then that DeGeneres declared her love for Oprah. “I love you so much, Oprah,” she said. “I am, as I say all the time, I am so honored to call you a friend. You are the wisest person I know and I just adore you.”