Celebrities Who Can't Stand Ellen DeGeneres

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Although Ellen DeGeneres had her fair share of awkward run-ins with her talk show guests over the years, the world arguably only saw the comedian's shady side in July 2020. At the time, several current and former employees of the eponymous show informed BuzzFeed News that they had endured a "toxic work environment" on the set. While one ex-staffer claimed that they had to jump through several hoops to get vacation leave in order to deal with personal life crises, another disclosed that they were fired for taking a month-long leave of absence following a suicide attempt. 

Additionally, a Black former employee alleged that she had endured racism both from her fellow staff members and a senior-level producer, while a manager had brushed off her concerns once she finally voiced them. Although DeGeneres apologized to her staff and vowed to do better in an episode of her show, it ultimately wasn't enough to prolong its decades-long run any further. After an emotional last day of filming, DeGeneres bid farewell to her talk show in 2022. Then, in April 2024, DeGeneres turned her biggest scandal into a joke. 

As Rolling Stone noted, at the opening night of her "Ellen's Last Stand...Up Tour," the comedian addressed the end of her beloved show. "There's no mean people in show business," DeGeneres quipped. "The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind. I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. [...] Had I ended my show by saying, 'Go f*** yourself,' people would've been pleasantly surprised." However, a few celebrities may not have found the profanity shocking because they believed that DeGeneres had been a mean girl long before the controversy.

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During a June 2025 appearance on "The Kelly Mantle Show" podcast, Margaret Cho claimed that Ellen DeGeneres was indeed a "mean girl" behind the scenes. The "All-American Girl" alum explained that she had known the TV personality from her days as a stand-up comedian and had even opened for several of her shows. However, when Cho appeared on DeGeneres' talk show in the 2000s, she apparently greeted her as a stranger instead of an old friend. "We go way back. It's so creepy and weird," Cho shared of her reaction to the comedian's cold treatment. 

The actor also took issue with how the TV personality had cut out a segment showing David Bowie gushing about the outfit she wore to his concert from a different episode. After Cho explained that DeGeneres was similarly cruel to her throughout her career, she offered a shady reason for her dislike: "I think she always had negative feelings toward me because her girlfriends and wives always liked me." 

Cho wasn't the only celeb who felt that the public only saw DeGeneres' true self when the toxic workplace allegations surfaced. After she released a statement, "Everybody Loves Raymond" alum Brad Garrett confirmed in a since-deleted tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the toxicity started "from the top," adding, "Know more than one who were treated horribly by her.⁩ Common knowledge," (via The Wrap). Later, "Back To The Future" star Lea Thompson followed up by tweeting that she believed Garrett's claims were true. 

When Ellen DeGeneres appeared on "Larry King Live" in 2004, she stated that she didn't share a tight-knit bond with Rosie O'Donnell, reasoning, "I don't really know Rosie that well. I mean, I've spoken to her, but we're not really friends." During a 2022 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," the "Flintstones" star acknowledged that she was shocked to hear her fellow talk show host's remarks, confessing, "It hurt my feelings like a baby." Additionally DeGeneres had invited O'Donnell to appear on her talk show only once. However, the "View" alum reckoned that things could get awkward if she went on by herself, so she asked if someone else could tag along with her. But the show wasn't onboard with the idea, so her appearance ultimately fell through. 

Meanwhile, in a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, O'Donnell revealed that she had once requested DeGeneres specifically for a guest spot on her show, but she turned her down. Moreover, the "Harriet the Spy" star believed she was once close with DeGeneres, since, "I know her mother. I could identify her brother without her in the room. I knew her for so many years. It just felt like I don't trust this person to be in my world." The comedian noted that after the comedian's chat with King, she also handed out shirts to her staff that read: "I don't know Rosie. We're not friends." DeGeneres did apologize to her former friend following her chat with Cohen, however. Although O'Donnell is still in touch with DeGeneres after their feud, it seems like all fences cannot be mended.

In an April 2025 YouTube video, Kathy Griffin recalled how Ellen DeGeneres asked her to sing the jingle from a commercial she was in when she attended a table read for her iconic 1990s sitcom "Ellen." The left-field request made her feel slightly uncomfortable because DeGeneres' tone came across as if she was ordering Griffin rather than making a polite request. Although the "Cable Guy" star tried to fend her off by listing facts about the ad, she still insisted on her singing. 

So, Griffin indulged her, and DeGeneres awkwardly stared at her without saying a word. Meanwhile, in Griffin's 2016 book "Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index," she claimed that an unnamed popular blonde talk show host had pulled some strings at the Emmys to get her kicked out of a dressing room. While speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in 2016, the comedian divulged that its many revelations infuriated DeGeneres, and she called her up to "put [her] in [her] place." 

The two comics got into a nasty spat that ultimately reduced Griffin to tears. Then, while the "My Life on the D-List" star was in Los Angeles for her comedy tour, she had another run-in with DeGeneres when she called her to try to convince her to do a tribute for Joan Rivers. As Variety reported, she recalled how the celeb who left the country after Donald Trump's win had declined, saying, "There's a difference between mean and funny." The call got ugly afterward, with Griffin admitting, "That f***ing set me off." She continued, "So we had a fight in which I used inflammatory words like, 'Look you f***ing untalented hack.'"

In September 2015, a few months after Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender, she made an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that landed her in hot water. At one point, the talk show host asked the Olympian about her thoughts on gay marriage as a proud Republican. Jenner explained that she was initially "not for" same-sex marriage because she held strict conservative views and believed that a long-standing union should be between a man and woman (via YouTube). 

However, the political activist acknowledged that she eventually learned that it's best to live and let live. In response, DeGeneres argued, "You're still kind of a little not on board with it." Although Jenner clarified that she had no problem with gay marriage, she still received tons of backlash and was ultimately labeled a hypocrite for her views by the Internet at large. It seemed like even DeGeneres shared the same sentiment because when she appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" shortly afterward, the comedian admitted that Jenner's stance on gay marriage as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community confused her. 

As RadarOnline reported at the time, in the Olympian's 2017 memoir "The Secrets of My Life," the proud Republican criticized DeGeneres for insinuating that she was against same-sex marriage, writing, "This discussion further alienated me from members of the LGBTQ community." Jenner continued, "Ellen's appearance on 'The Howard Stern Show,' where in my mind she even more emphatically took what I said out of context, made it go viral." Unsurprisingly, rumors have circulated ever since that Jenner was banned from DeGeneres' talk show as a result of their public disagreement.

In 2019, Ellen DeGeneres garnered major backlash after being spotted enjoying a Cowboys game with controversial Former President George W. Bush. In a monologue for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the TV personality made several jokes about her attendance at the event before addressing the root cause of the controversy. "I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs that I have," she proclaimed. "We're all different. And I think that we have forgotten that that's okay." DeGeneres' casual response obviously didn't sit right with many people, including her fellow celebs.

Susan Sarandon took to X to quote an Out magazine article in response: "Missing the point entirely, DeGeneres framed the issue as simply a matter of her hanging out with someone with different opinions, not a man repeatedly accused of being a war criminal." Mark Ruffalo shared a similar sentiment while quoting a Vanity Fair article detailing how DeGeneres built her public image on a message of kindness. 

The Marvel star wrote that "We can't even begin to talk about kindness" until the people who had been affected by Bush's alleged war crimes got justice. Meanwhile, British celebrity Jameela Jamil wrote that she could empathize with people's anger towards DeGeneres while acknowledging that she had only learned why Bush was deemed so controversial because of her. At the end of the day, though, he isn't the only polarizing figure DeGeneres associated with. In 2024, the Diddy controversy had people re-examining an eyebrow-raising moment in "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."