Ellen DeGeneres jokes about being “kicked out of show business” in the new trailer for her upcoming stand-up special, which she’s been forced to self-release on — oh, wait, nevermind, it’ll be on the biggest streaming platform in the world, Netflix, starting Sept. 24.
The material featured in the clip for Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval finds DeGeneres catching the crowd up on her life since her smash daytime talk show ended in 2022 amidst a whirlwind of claims that she fostered a toxic work environment. DeGeneres quips about getting into gardening and raising chickens, before offering glimpses of her take on what went down during her bumpy denouement.
“The Be Kind Girl wasn’t kind — that was the headline,” DeGeneres says. “Here’s the problem, I’m a comedian who got a talk show, and I ended the show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go fuck yourselves,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”
DeGeneres has said For Your Approval will be her final stand-up special. Back in April, she started performing the new routine for small audiences in Los Angeles after hinting that she’d been working on new material. A tour followed, though a handful of dates were canceled over the summer.
For Your Approval will be DeGeneres’ first major project since The Ellen DeGeneres Show ended in May 2022. While the show enjoyed a wildly successful 19-season run, its final few years were marred by controversy and allegations from employees of racism, sexual misconduct, and intimidation at the hands of executive producers.
According to reports from DeGeneres’ stand-up tour this year, DeGeneres does take some time in the special to own up to being “demanding and impatient and tough.” But she maintained: “I am many things, but I am not mean,” insisting that to be mean is to have acted with malice.
From Rolling Stone US
