In what is being touted as her final stand-up special, Ellen DeGeneres once again attempts to deflect responsibility for the controversies that have dogged her career. The Netflix special, titled “For Your Approval,” presents DeGeneres playing up the victim card while ignoring the real reason she faced public backlash—the toxic workplace allegations that surfaced during her time on *The Ellen DeGeneres Show*. In typical Hollywood fashion, she glosses over the facts, opting instead to make light of her tarnished reputation.
DeGeneres, now 66, opens the show with a line that sets the tone for the entire special: “I got kicked out of show business because I’m mean.” It’s a joke, of course, but behind the quip is a dismissal of the serious allegations made by former employees. The accusations, which included reports of racism, sexual misconduct by producers, and a toxic environment, led to an internal investigation at Warner Bros. Several producers were fired, but DeGeneres managed to avoid taking full accountability for the culture under her leadership.
In her special, however, DeGeneres tries to reduce this downfall to nothing more than rumors of her being “mean.” She quips about people watching her in public to see if she’ll be rude: “Do you think she’ll be mean first and then dance?” While she tries to paint herself as the subject of petty gossip, the reality is much graver. This wasn’t just about her being curt with guests or staff—it was about creating a workplace environment that left employees feeling disrespected, undervalued, and, in some cases, traumatized.
DeGeneres continues to weave her narrative of victimhood, recalling how her career first took a hit when she came out as a lesbian in 1997. “No gay people in show business,” she jokes, as if to compare her earlier struggles with the much more recent and substantive allegations that led to her downfall. Yes, she faced backlash for coming out, and there’s no denying the courage it took to do so at that time. But to equate that struggle with the fallout from credible accusations of a hostile workplace seems like an attempt to shift the conversation away from her own actions and leadership failures.
At one point in the special, she acknowledges headlines that labeled her the “most hated person in America.” While she pokes fun at this with a joke about making her own “Most Hated” sash, she glosses over the fact that this wasn’t media hyperbole. The allegations against her were not concocted by the press but were shared by numerous former employees who described a toxic environment, corroborated by an investigation that led to several firings.
Rather than truly address the hurt she caused, DeGeneres focuses on her own experience of being criticized, even joking about how therapy helped her cope with the “hatred” directed her way. This self-centered narrative ignores the harm done to the people who worked for her, many of whom saw their mental health and professional careers affected by the toxic environment she allowed to fester.
As a final note, DeGeneres reflects on her famous “be kind to one another” tagline, joking that if she had ended each show by saying, “Go f*** yourselves,” people would have been pleasantly surprised to find out she was actually kind. It’s a crude punchline, but one that underscores the contradiction of her public persona versus the reality of what was happening behind the scenes.
In the end, DeGeneres may have landed her final special, but it’s hard to see it as anything more than an attempt to rewrite history. Instead of accountability, we get deflection and jokes. And for many who once looked up to her, that’s no laughing matter.
