Asked About Future Plans, DeGeneres Drops a Bomb

'This is the last time you're going to see me,' comedian says at show, suggesting retirement
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 11, 2024 6:16 AM CDT
DeGeneres at Show: 'This Is the Last Time' You'll See Me
Ellen DeGeneres is seen at the Warner Theatre in Washington on Nov.15, 2022.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

There's quiet quitting, and then there's not-so-quiet quitting, which is what Ellen DeGeneres just apparently did. Forbes reports that the 66-year-old comedian is currently on her "Ellen's Last Stand ... Up" tour, which kicked off in April, and she's also got a Netflix comedy special on the books in the next few months—but DeGeneres has started canceling performances, and remarks at one recent show suggest this may be the end of her entertaining the public. At an appearance last week in Santa Rosa, California, during a Q&A after the show, DeGeneres was asked if she had plans to get into the movies or even Broadway after the comedy tour came to a close.

"Um, no," DeGeneres answered, per SFGate. "This is the last time you're going to see me. After my Netflix special, I'm done." When another fan pressed DeGeneres to lend her voice once more as Dory the fish in a sequel to Pixar's Finding Nemo, she replied, "No, I'm going bye-bye, remember." DeGeneres also thanked the crowd there for "still caring" and mentioned that she "got kicked out of show business for being mean"—a reference to the scandal that engulfed her eponymous daytime talk show four years ago, accusing her of harboring a toxic work environment. The show ended in 2022.

At the Santa Rosa show, DeGeneres denied she was ever mean, though she did cop to being "demanding and impatient and tough. I am a strong woman." She then added: "I used to say, 'I don't care what people say about me.' Now I realize I said that during the height of my popularity." NBC Chicago reports that DeGeneres has since canceled a handful of shows on the tour, including in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Dallas, though other shows have sold out and remain on the schedule. (DeGeneres has been speaking out more lately about the scandal that swirled around her.)

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