These Iconic A-Listers Aren’t Exactly Welcome On The Ellen Degeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has always hung its hat on being a source of positivity and feel-good moments, and Ellen herself ends every episode with a message of hope. But it’s come to light in recent years that behind-the-scenes of the show there is something different going out.
As it turns out, Ellen might not be a practitioner of her gospel, at least according to several big-name celebrities. Whether the heat is on Ellen’s side, or on the guest’s, there are some high-profile names who likely won’t be appearing on her show anytime soon after some spats with the host.
Kathy Griffin
The primetime Emmy award-winning actress and comedian tried to get on Ellen’s for years to no avail. In 2007, Ellen claimed Griffin was never banned because you have to be on the show before you can be banned from it.
Their relation became even more strained in 2014 when Ellen refused to take part in a tribute show for the late Joan Rivers. Later, during one of her stand-up routines, Kathy used that back-and-forth with Ellen as part of her act.
Hasan Minhaj
Comedian Minhaj had his parents drive down from Sacramento in order to be in the audience of The Ellen Show when he was a guest. When Ellen introduced him to her fans, she mispronounced his name, which didn’t sit well with him.
While on air, he pointed out that she could pronounce other foreign names of celebrities, so she should be able to pronounce his. His father felt that he wasted air time, but Hasan claims he mainly did it for his mother.
Sherri Shepherd
A former co-host of The View from 2007 to 2014, Shepherd is also an actress, author, and comedian. She used to be a welcome recurring guest on The Ellen Show, and even appeared in the very first season.
Similar to Caitlyn Jenner, Shepherd is also now on Ellen’s bad side for comments she’s made on Ellen’s love life. Sherri is another to claim that her comments were twisted to make headlines, and has apologized to those she may have offended.
Vince Vaughn
Back in 2011, during a promotion for his movie, The Dilemma, Vaughn made a derogatory comment in an interview. The politically incorrect joke he made inspired Ellen to ban him from appearing on her show.
There were rumors that Ellen was prompted to cut Vince after Anderson Cooper brought it up on the air. However, she didn’t blacklist Vaughn for long, as he has since made appearances on the show, and the two appear to have made up.
Drew Barrymore
Actress Drew Barrymore and Ellen teamed up on the show First Dates, where Drew was the narrator and Ellen was an executive producer. It turns out that this dream team didn’t end up getting along very well.
It was reported that the two stars didn’t get along while producing the show. An anonymous source stated that Ellen expected to be calling the shots, but Drew thought she should have creative control.
Sofia Vergara
The Colombian actress, TV producer, presenter and model is perhaps best known for her role on Modern Family. She has been the highest paid actress in American TV for seven straight years, from 2013 to 2020.
Ellen famously impersonated Vergara on a segment of her show in 2017. She dedicated some time to making fun of Vegara’s accent. Though she claims she wasn’t offended by the imitation, Vergara definitely looked irritated.
Piers Morgan
Morgan is a famous TV personality from the United Kingdom. He slammed Ellen as a hypocrite after she made a questionable post online in honor of singer Katy Perry’s birthday that was accompanied with a photo of Ellen and Katy.
The photo showed Ellen staring down in disbelief at Perry’s cleavage and the text that went with the pic referenced it, too. Morgan pointed out that if a man made that same joke, Ellen wouldn’t have been ok with it.
Reese Witherspoon
Actress Reese Witherspoon took her shot at being a TV personality with her own show, Shine On with Reese. Unfortunately, since it was new, not everybody had heard of it and it didn’t get good ratings compared to the regulars.
According to rumors, Reese is shooting for the stars, also known as trying to get big names to exclusively appear on her show. While neither Witherspoon nor Ellen has actually commented on this, there could be a rivalry brewing.
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes is known first and foremost as a comedian, but she also has credits as both an actress and writer. She has won a Primetime Emmy award and has also been named one of the funniest people in America in the past.
While making a guest appearance, Wanda called out Ellen for her comedy “tour,” which wasn’t much of a tour at all. All of Ellen’s shows were on the west coast and featured mostly just Los Angeles dates and a total of only four cities.
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey, one of the most popular singers of the last few decades, has a pretty good personal reason to be upset with Ellen. When Carey was on the show in 2008, she and then-husband Nick Cannon were expecting, but did not make it public knowledge. Ellen nevertheless pressured her into revealing that she was pregnant on the show.
Carey has admitted how awkward she was with the incident, saying, “I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say.” If Carey revealing the information when she wasn’t prepared to wasn’t enough, she tragically miscarried shortly after her appearance on the show.
Kelly Ripa
TV personality Kelly Ripa, who hosts a talk show of her own, got upset with Ellen for a guest she had on as well. Ellen invited Ripa’s former co-host Michael Strahan on to her show a year after he left.
Strahan’s jump to a rival morning talk show had upset Kelly and she felt Ellen had taken his side by making him a guest. Ellen reportedly tried to make peace with her by reaching out to apologize for what happened.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is a singer, songwriter and TV judge is responsible for nine US Hot 100 Billboard number one singles. She has even been the featured act at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which was the most watched performance in its history.
Perry has been pictured with Ellen while the two enjoyed several different outings together. In fact, one picture of them together was posted by Ellen for Perry’s birthday, but it stirred up controversy from others on this list. However, Ellen did have Perry on her show once and forgot that she was once married to Russell Brand. Ellen said, “You were not married,” to which Perry replied, “Remember you gave me some wedding gifts on this show?”
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber has been a huge name in the music world, so naturally his personal life is often a topic of conversation in the media. But he’s had a few appearances on Ellen that have led people to believe that the host was being too invasive with her questions.
The first instance came in 2015, when after some photos of the singer were snapped of him without clothes on, Ellen showed those photos while he was a guest on the show and grilled him with questions. In 2020, Ellen was asking Bieber about his wife Hailey, and proceeded to ask why they haven’t had children yet. Bieber was clearly uncomfortable by the questioning.
Celine Dion
Legendary French-Canadian singer Celine Dion was a guest on Ellen’s show in 2007 primarily to promote her new album. Aside for talking about the vocalist’s career, Ellen randomly brought up Dion’s son. That’s when things got awkward.
The host said to Dion, “It seems like you’re busy with something, because you’re forgetting to cut your son’s hair,” and then showed a large picture of the boy with his father. Ellen asked when his hair would be cut, to which Dion asked if Ellen had a problem with the length of his hair, and emphasized that her son makes many of his own decisions. The situation got uncomfortable and Ellen changed the subject as soon as she could.
Liza Minnelli
When Ellen was the host of the Oscars in 2014, she made a joke at the expense of Minnelli, who was in the audience. She appeared to joke that the cabaret star looked as though she was dressed in drag for the occasion.
The joke didn’t sit well with some viewers and Liza herself looked like she was upset at being the punchline. In fact, she told TMZ that Ellen went astray with the line, but Minnelli also complimented Ellen, too.
Jameela Jamil
Jamil made her stance publicly known when it came to Ellen hanging out with the former President. Despite admitting that she didn’t know a lot about his reputation prior to the controversy, she did her research and came to a conclusion.
She then tweeted that she understood why so many people were upset. Growing up in the United Kingdom, Jameela only heard bits and pieces about the US leader, as her country was dealing with its own issues among leadership.
Giada De Laurentiis
The Italy-born celebrity chef is also a TV personality, writer and entrepreneur. She is the host of Giada at Home, a contributor and guest co-host on Today and the founder of the catering business GDL Foods.
Giada supposedly dislikes Ellen because her cooking doesn’t meet her likely high standards. She went on The Ellen Show to teach the host and Nicole Kidman how to cook and she came across as rude to many viewers.
Brad Garrett
Garrett is an actor and comedian who is best known for his character in Everybody Loves Raymond. He’s one of the big names to call out Ellen and her show for the poor treatment of its employees over the years.
He tweeted a story about Ellen’s apology video and stated that “it comes from the top.” He went on to explain that what current and past staffers of the show have dealt with is common knowledge in the industry.
Corinne Olympios
Olympios got her name out there after she was a part of both The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise as a contestant. She said that Ellen made her feel uncomfortable when she was a guest on The Ellen Show.
Corinne recalled that the host was very cold to her when they saw each other before the show. She felt nervous to begin with given the forthcoming guest appearance, and that interaction surely didn’t help make things any better.
Calum Scott
The British singer and songwriter made enough of a name for himself that he was invited to make a guest appearance on The Ellen Show. He was stoked to do so, but was met with an odd request from the staff when he arrived.
The producers of the show insisted that he not look Ellen in the eye while they talked, which is a hard thing to do, considering it’s a foundation of human interaction. Scott was understandably taken aback and likely felt uncomfortable.
Lea Thompson
Best known for her role as Lorraine Baines in the Back to the Future film trilogy, Thompson is an actress, director and TV producer. She responded to a story about the aforementioned Brad Garrett tweet.
Lea stated that she agreed with his statement about the poor treatment of the staff on The Ellen Show. She claims that several celebrities who either work with Ellen or have appeared on her show know about it, too.
Nikkie de Jager
Beauty vlogger de Jager, known online as Nikkie Tutorials, appeared on The Ellen Show to discuss coming out as transgender. The conversation appeared quite normal for the show, being both funny and touching.
Afterwards, Nikkie said she didn’t have a good experience behind the scenes. She claims the staff didn’t treat her well, Ellen didn’t even greet her and she couldn’t use a specific restroom because it was reserved for the Jonas Brothers.
Wendy Williams
Williams and Ellen have been ratings rivals since the premiere of The Wendy Williams Show back in 2008. Before that, Ellen was the queen of the daytime talk show, but Wendy brought new competition.
To add gasoline to the fire, Ellen supposedly believes that Wendy is too outspoken in her beliefs. When Williams made a guest appearance on The Ellen Show in 2015, Ellen confronted her about those controversial views.
Dakota Johnson
In the past, Johnson and Ellen were good enough friends for the Fifty Shades actress to invite her to her 30th birthday party. However, Ellen reportedly didn’t show, which led Dakota to confront her about it on the show the next month.
Ellen mentioned Johnson’s festivities, claiming she wasn’t invited. Dakota pointed out that she was, which made Ellen appear flustered before she came back with a pretty weak excuse as to why she couldn’t make it.
Jamar Rogers
Ellen made big waves in the 90s when she came out publicly on her sitcom, which is why many were confused when comedian Kevin Hart appeared on her show. The comedian famously was no longer hosting the 2019 Oscars due comments perceived as insensitive.
Some viewers like Rogers, a star of The Voice, felt Ellen didn’t hold Hart accountable for his offensive words. He tweeted to Ellen that he was disheartened as a former guest on her show.
Meghan McCain
The star of The View also criticized Ellen for the handling of the Kevin Hart interview. Meghan echoed the thoughts of journalist Yashar Ali, who tweeted that he seemed frustrated and defensive about having to deal with the aftermath.
In a response to Ali’s publication, McCain made her disappointment of Hart’s appearance on Ellen known, too. She wanted a genuine apology from Hart community, as this could have been a teachable moment.
Kim Burrell
Burrell is a gospel singer who also found herself banned from The Ellen Show after making derogatory comments about gay people. She was due to make a guest appearance and sing, but Ellen nixed that plan after what Kim said.
Ellen even addressed the issue when Pharrell Williams, the co-writer of the song Burrell was to perform, appeared on the show. She didn’t want to give Burrell any sort of platform to push herself or her beliefs to the viewers.
John Cusack
Ellen caught flak from many for getting caught on camera hanging out with the 43rd President in a luxury suite at an NFL game. This was controversial because of the war in Iraq.
Ellen defended her friendship with the former President on her show. Still, actor and political activist John Cusack accused her of “normalizing a mass murderer” due to the violence that had occurred overseas under the President’s two terms.
Tim Robbins
Another celebrity to call out Ellen for hanging with former US leader was actor Tim Robbins. Robbins criticized her for not holding the man accountable, adding that he never faced the consequences of his actions.
In an interview, Tim said that he’s all for making peace with people on the other side, but not for those who are responsible for a lot of death. To him, the former President never took responsibility for his actions.
Susan Sarandon
Sarandon, an actress and former partner of Tim Robbins, felt that Ellen downplayed the criticism of her relationship with Bush. She stated that Ellen dismissed them for failing to understand friendships that bridged political differences.
In a tweet, Sarandon said that Ellen missed the point entirely. She went on to write that Ellen framed it as a matter of hanging out with someone of different opinions, not someone who was repeatedly been accused of war crimes.
Caitlyn Jenner
Jenner was widely known as an Olympic athlete, and is also part of the famed Kardashian-Jenner clan. After coming out as identifying as transgender, Caitlyn found it difficult to accept same-sex marriage, which irked Ellen.
Caitlyn was later quoted as being okay with it after all, but Ellen had already made up her mind on Jenner. On the other hand, Jenner feels that Ellen manipulated an interview, and made an effort to turn the LGBTQ+ community against her.
Elton John
Legendary singer, Elton John, who is gay himself, started having a problem with Ellen when she came out in the 90s. When she did so, it got ton of media attention across all kinds of publications and was a constant headline.
Elton got fed up with the constant attention she received and made his opinion known to the masses. Ellen became aware of it and recalled that he said something along the lines of, “Shut up already. We know you’re gay. Be funny.”
Neil Breen
Breen is an Australian radio host and a former executive producer of The Today Show who worked with Ellen on a segment. He stated that her producers asked him to not engage with her under any circumstances.
It was arranged that Ellen would co-host The Today Show, but she kept changing her plans until it ended up being only a short interview. Neil also claimed that Ellen’s team took over the show and left him feeling like an outcast.
Mark Ruffalo
Actor Mark Ruffalo was also not having it with Ellen’s defense of her friendship with former President Bush. Like several other people, he felt Bush hadn’t taken responsibility for his wrongdoings and made that known via Twitter.
Mark said that Bush needs to be brought to justice for his role in war crimes that occurred in the Middle East. Until that happens, Ellen can’t even begin to talk about kindness when it comes to her reasoning for friendship with Bush.
Kevin T. Porter
Porter is a comedian who went viral for his call-out of Ellen, which sparked a huge controversy for her to deal with. On Twitter, he noted that Ellen always talks about kindness, but is actually one of the meanest people alive.
He urged his followers to respond with stories about Ellen being mean and got hundreds, if not thousands, of replies. Perhaps part of the reason he got blown up was because he said he’d donate $2 to the LA Food Bank for each reply.
Eric Trump
The son of former President Donald Trump makes a lot of enemies, just like his dad. With Ellen being on the complete opposite end of the spectrum on most political topics, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two aren’t friends.
Eric has even accused her of being part of a deep state conspiracy theory. He has done so with many other liberals, so Ellen probably didn’t even think twice about it when it was brought to her attention.
Ashley Nicole Black
Black was a writer and correspondent for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee before leaving that show to write and act in A Black Lady Sketch Show. She also took the opportunity to give her two cents on The Ellen Show.
She subtweeted about Ellen, stating that toxic workplaces are widely accepted in the industry and people are expected not to complain. The executives don’t care how others are treated as long as they get results.
Andy Richter
Richter is an actor, comedian and writer who is best known for being Conan O’Brien’s sidekick on his TV shows. He, too, got in on the action by responding to Black’s subtweet about the toxic workplace culture.
He expanded by saying there are toxic higher-ups in every industry, not just in the TV show industry. However, very few of the businesses are controlled by someone who preaches kindness in every episode.
Phoebe Bridgers
Bridgers is an up-and-coming musician who tweeted a pun on Ellen’s last name without an explanation. She wrote, “ellen degenerate,” and didn’t care to elaborate on the perceived criticism of the TV personality.
With all the aforementioned controversy and discord, there’s always a second side to every story. As such, there also a group of famous celebrities who’ve stood firmly by Ellen’s side through all of her trials and tribulations…
Portia De Rossi
This one is a no-brainer, as the two have been married for two plus decades, and have stuck by one another through it all. Portia has stood by her wife and has always been a strong supporter, even during the hard times.
In example, De Rossi posted a message of support for Ellen amid the investigation into the work environment on The Ellen Show. The graphic said, “I Stand By Ellen” and she thanked their fans and supporters in the caption.
Kim Kardashian
Arguably the brightest star of the Kardashian clan, Kim is a model and social media mogul who pushes several business ventures. She’s a huge fan of Ellen and has been a recurring guest on The Ellen Show throughout its run.
The two friends have always spoken in a positive light about one another when questioned. This is despite the seemingly never-ending controversies that follow them, as being under constant judgement comes with fame.
Pharrell Williams
Williams is a musician, record producer, songwriter, singer, fashion designer and entrepreneur. The man of many talents continues to churn out hit after hit with his knack for developing what listeners want to hear.
Ellen is clearly a big fan of Williams, which was proven when he was invited to her exclusive 60th birthday party. The duo has always spoken kindly about one another and Pharrell has been on her show several times.
Pamela Anderson
This actress, model, TV personality and author was first known for her numerous appearances in Playboy magazine. She used that traction in the industry to transition into TV, getting roles in Home Improvement and Baywatch.
Pamela and Ellen have bonded over their love for animals. While Ellen now eats eggs and fish, they both tried out the vegan diet at one point, perhaps influenced by the affection for the animals that most see as food.
Ryan Seacrest
Seacrest is a radio personality, producer, and co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan. He hosts programs on multiple media platforms as well, including American Idol, American Top 40, and On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Ryan sure knows how to stay busy, as his schedule seems jam-packed, but he still found time to heap praise on Ellen. He gave her a very nice compliment when he said, “Everyone hearts Ellen DeGeneres. What’s not to love?”
Justin Timberlake
Timberlake made it big as one of the members of NSYNC before breaking away as an individual musician to further push his career forward. Ellen has always shown appreciation for him and it seems to be a mutual feeling.
The two have even more in common now that Justin has recently been mired in a controversy himself. After the airing of a documentary on Britney Spears, he was painted as a villain and had to go into damage control.
Melissa McCarthy
Among other ventures, McCarthy is best known as both an actress and comedian. She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards and has been nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards so far.
Ellen and Melissa share a couple of things in common, most notably their senses of humor. The two pals joke around during their interviews together and have always spoke glowingly about the other when asked.
Jennifer Aniston
Whether you know her best from Friends or one of her many other film or TV roles, Aniston has been a major player in the industry for decades. She built herself quite the resume and is now one of the highest-paid actresses.
She’s also pretty good friends with Ellen and has appeared on her show on multiple occasions. Not only did the duo lock lips while on air, but Ellen celebrated Jennifer’s 50th birthday in a big way on her show, too.
Oprah Winfrey
The talk show host, TV producer, actress, author and philanthropist is one of the few people who has more pull than Ellen in the realm of daytime TV. She just released the bombshell interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The two daytime-TV juggernauts became good friends after they met on the set of The Ellen Show before the turn of the century. They’ve been seen in public together and were even neighbors at one point.
Kevin Hart
The actor and comedian caused Ellen harm for having him as a guest on her show even after it came to light of the offensive comments he made in the past. It’s only fitting that he raises her up whenever he can.
Kevin has posted online about his experiences with her and how she has always treated him and his family with love and respect. He continued by noting that the internet has become a world of negativity that seeks to ruin people.
Howard Stern
Stern is a radio and TV personality, comedian and author. He is best known for The Howard Stern Show, which originally aired in 1986 and gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on both radio and TV.
Ellen has been a guest on Howard’s show multiple times and once revealed that the two shared a close friendship. Similar to when Ellen kissed Jennifer Aniston, she has also laid one on Stern while the show was airing.
Chance The Rapper
His name says it all, as Chance has won three Grammy Awards, with one of those being the award for Best Rap Album. That album, Coloring Book, became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award.
Proof in the friendship between Chance and Ellen can be found in the flowers he sent her for her birthday. They’ve both heaped praise on one another when asked in various interviews over the years.
Adele
With sales of more than 120 million records, Adele is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Her accolades include fifteen Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards, among a multitude of other awards.
It would make sense if Ellen asked Adele to sing for her at her 60th birthday celebration, given her amazing voice, but Ellen didn’t make the request. Instead, they just enjoyed the party together as friends.
Sean Hayes
Hayes is an actor, comedian and producer who is best known for playing Jack McFarland on Will & Grace. For that role, he won a Primetime Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, and one American Comedy Award.
While at one point he and Ellen were sitcom rivals, the pair have become such good friends that Sean even got the opportunity to host The Ellen Show. That’s an offer that not many people are lucky enough to say they have.
Jane Lynch
Lynch is perhaps best known for her starring role as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series Glee, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Aside from acting, she’s also a comedian and author.
Lynch, who is a lesbian herself, attributes her career to Ellen, saying that if Ellen hadn’t revealed her sexuality back in 1997, there would be no room for her in the industry. The two are close friends to say the least.
Ashton Kutcher
The actor made it big time thanks to his role as Michael Kelso on That ‘70s Show. He rushed to Ellen’s defense shortly after the accusations about her show’s toxic workplace environment were made public.
In summary, he said that he could only speak from his own experience, but that The Ellen Show always treated his team with respect and kindness. He also noted that when things are wrong, Ellen makes them right.
Scooter Braun
Braun manages mega stars like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato. Like Ellen, he knows a thing or two about being a part of controversy, as Taylor Swift accused him of bullying in the industry.
Regardless of if that was a factor as to why he decided to chime in or not, he did stand up for Ellen. Scooter tweeted that she’s a “kind, thoughtful, courageous human being who stands for what is right.”
Diane Keaton
Keaton is an actress and filmmaker who gained fame for her role in The Godfather. She has received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards and the AFI Life Achievement Award during her career.
She showed support for Ellen by saying that she always enjoyed her time on the set of The Ellen Show. Diane noted how the audience was always so happy and how Ellen gives back so much to so many people.
Jay Leno
A fellow TV host and comedian, Leno did stand-up comedy before becoming the host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When his run on that show ended, he started hosting Jay Leno’s Garage, due to his love for motor vehicles.
He took to Twitter in defense of Ellen, who he had been friends with for 40 years at the time. He pointed out that Ellen had raised more than $125 million for charity and had always been a kind person.
Jerry O’Connell
One of O’Connell’s biggest roles occurred in Kangaroo Jack. He put his neck out there when he let his followers know where he stood on the Ellen drama and reposted what Portia de Rossi had published in support of Ellen.
In an interview, he stated that he had known the couple for nearly three decades and wanted to let them know that he loves them. He also said he believes the victims and that the work environment needs to change, though.