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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media

Portia does satirical gay marriage PSA on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Portia de Rossi was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) last night — ostensibly to promote her new ABC comedy Better Off Ted, but Kimmel never really got around to that.

The interview focused instead on Portia's prior career as a teen model, her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres, and her ability to pick shows that are high quality, but not necessarily hits (she tells a funny, shorter-and-snappier-than-usual story about American Idol).

Portia de Rossi interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 3/20/09

Portia also filmed an amusing PSA about Prop. 8 and gay marriage for the show, "paid for by Married Gay People Who Are Sorry."

Portia de Rossi Prop. 8 PSA

While Portia's deadpan delivery is great as always, and the overall concept is funny, I thought the content was just ... so-so. I guess I expected the PSA to focus on the absurdity of the argument that same-sex marriage hurts heterosexual ones (as in, "I'm sorry my marriage to Ellen broke up Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman...again" or "I'm sorry we broke up Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer"), rather than inconveniencing Prop. 8 protesters. But I'm just nitpicking; it was amusing overall, and the joke about Buddy the dog being gay was very funny.

I love how a promotional tour for a new ABC show has inadvertently turned into the Gay Marriage is OK tour. I think we've heard the word "wife" used to refer to a same-sex partner more times this week on primetime broadcast network television than in the last ten years combined.

Now we just have to hope enough people watch Ted to give Portia an excuse to do it again in the fall.

  • Sarah Warn's blog
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  • MeL's picture

    Go Portia!

    I liked this interview much better than the one with Leno, especially because they talked a little more about her at the beginning and not about Ellen. Also, I really loved the PSA, it shows what a great comedic actress she is.

    As for "Better of Ted" (or BOT, as some call it), I liked the first episode and look forward to the second one. I think it was smart and funny, and Portia was hilarious. Her character had the very best lines.

    **************************

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    bananaf's picture

    Great interview

    I like the way Jimmy Kimmel's interviewing her. I actually learned a lot more about Portia from this interview, and she, too, handled it very well.

    She does have the ability to choose smart and 'different' shows than the usual mainstream hits. Too bad I havent watched bot's first episode...

    axon's picture

    Portia is fabulous

    Hitchcock would have loved her.

    I feel really proud for what she does to defend our rights. Humour is a wonderful weapon.

    I wish we could see "better of Ted" here in Spain!!

    Thanks, Sarah, for bringing this here

    kristin010101's picture

    Give this site a try  

    Give this site a try   www.sidereel.com    should be able to watch her show there...

     Hope it works for you!

    Leigh7's picture

    Focus on the absurdity!

    Yay for Portia!

    I love that her PSA focuses on the extreme absurdity of the YesProp8 supporters....because yes, some of them are that absurd as to actually file a wrongful claim with regard to the silly things Portia humorously mentioned.

    But, more importantly, it highlights how ridiculous and inappropriate the YesProp8 campaign is at present, with regard to not only the facts, but to the current mood of the United States and it's "Yes We Can" spirit of change.

     

    Tiffany's picture

    Hahaha I love Portia! She is

    Hahaha I love Portia! She is awesome :)
    Natazzz's picture

    Love the PSA

    I love the PSA.

    It's always good to point out to people how stupid they are being... 

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    audaz's picture

    Loved the PSA

    and Portia is stunning!
    mcgloch's picture

    Portia's PSA

    I thought the PSA worked really well, it highlights how rediculous Prop 8 yes voters actually are, but did it in a funny way. Go Portia!

    Also I think if she had have made jokes about Jimmy and Sara then it would have looked like an attack on the hets, plus she's on his show, not a good idea to make fun off the host. Unless it's Johnathan Ross!

    TruMischief's picture

    My favorite part of the PSA

    At the end of the PSA when it mentioned the Bonoboos I almost spit out what I was drinking.  Bonoboos never fight and solve all their problems by having sex.

    Maybe it was because it made me flash back to my psych class where my incredibly HOT prof talked about the hippy chimps that always had sex.  She could have read the phone book and I would have written a paper on it.

    In The Morning's picture

    Me too!

    Except I freaked out over the combo of Bonobo+chimp because that is the misconception from the 90's. Huh, that's a long time to still be getting it wrong. (Sorry, it's my future job here--bonobos are very fun to study haha) Great PSA otherwise :)
    ice cream's picture

    That's right...

    Nobody thought of the poor, traumatized freaks corageous pioneeres of hatefully ridiculous outdated dogma morality who spent countless hours protesting Prop 8.  I'm so glad she remembered them.  :|

    That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

    Julia's picture

    American Idol?

    She tells a story about American Idol? I listened to the whole interview and didn't notice that, haha....?
    Pyewacket's picture

    OMG! I loved the PSA!

    I thought showing the plain and simple stupidity of the people protesting gay marriage and supporting Prop 8 was hilarious...because in fact gay marriage does nothing to them...unless they drag their own friggin butts out in all kinds of weather to protest.

    Though someone needs to take the dog away from its owners since obviously they are not treating that poor creature right!

    I don't usually watch JK but I am glad I did last night...it was a nice little cherry on the sundae of getting to see and hear Portia all week! :)

    monica_ca's picture

    HIlarious

    The PSA was hilarious and made having to endure JK *totally* worth it.
    kreigen's picture

    The hat comment

    Got me...I mean seriously?? What was he thinking! Haha poor Buddy the dog :(

    I agree with some of the above posters..they didn't even need to make it up, it was all there for them already...

    The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes, but don't be afraid...

    hmorsey's picture

    Great PSA...points out the

    Great PSA...points out the idiocy of the Yes on Prop 8 people
    music_lover's picture

    The opposite meaning

    With the sound off, the PSA kinda looks like it is saying " the married gay people pictured in this photo to my right are beautiful, and the pictured straight people to my left are inconsiterate because of their lack of fasion sense." 
    wyle e coyote's picture

    InSted - LOL!

    The Stedman magazine was hilarious!  The concept of the PSA was great, but I felt like they could've pushed it a little more--wasn't as funny as it could've been.  but all in all, this interview went a lot smoother than the previous two.
    Lunakiss's picture

    Portia Fans

    www.myspace.com/lunakiss7.com

    Nice to see Portia fans giving love! I Like the PSA skit. Hilarious. I can never get enough of Portia.

    ice cream's picture

    Can't believe she outed the

    Can't believe she outed the dog like that. Damn.

    One thing I don't get about clips of movies and tv shows that are shown on talk shows is that many of them are not very good clips of the product they're trying to sell. Who decided on that clip of BOT?

    I've seen clips of movies of that I love, and when the actress/actor is out there promoting the thing the clips that end up getting shown often give the wrong impression of the movie. The scene within the movie itself is perfectly fine but when taken out of context it's just lame, and certainly not something that would get people out to the theatre. I've seen this soo many times with tv shows and movies.. the poor marketing of this stuff is just breathtaking.

     

    pancreas's picture

    Nice interview and PSA. I

    Nice interview and PSA. I wonder what movie she was talking about recently shooting, where she filmed a crying scene and then got a comment on Ellen?
    Vanessa_G's picture

    i believe it's "ambition to

    i believe it's "ambition to meaning," which was shot last summer and has a restaurant scene with her and her "husband" arguing intensely. it's actually a good movie. don't know if it's on netflix...

    it's a film focusing on the teachings of wayne dyer, the guy that married ellen and portia.  

    Lunakiss's picture

    It's not on Netflix

    www.myspace.com/lunakiss7.com

    I'm on Hayhouse  Radio (Internet Spiritual  Radio)all the time. I believe you can order or download the movie for a few dollars.  It's not that expensive. I did it. Loved Portia in it. Cool, Dr. Wayne Dyker married Portia and Ellen? I didn't know that.

    swoopesbabe's picture

    portia

    she is a  perfect 10!!!!!!!!!!! portia,is so fine
    Jamie's picture

     That PSA was hilarious and

     That PSA was hilarious and quite great. Humor should be used more often to show how absurd some of the opponent's of gay marriage arguments are.

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    http://stuffqueerpeopleneedtoknow.wordpress.com/

    maria's picture

    gay rights

    i think it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, portia's hot. but it's true, it's absurd that people actually think that gay people are sinners (that's what it's all about). you godda be stupid as a rock to believe that but then again the media and history doesn't help
    Rachel JW's picture

    Oh Portia

    She's just lovely and I love Ellen also, but I wouldn't go up to her talking about her wife. I think she's brilliant in her own right. :)

    -Rachel
    http://www.kissthegirl09.webs.com
    little_angel's picture

    Gosh...

    She is too cute. Its a fun show Jimmy is a fun host. but then again so is Ellen. 
    louisa's picture

    The start of many?

    This is great, lovely Portia really makes me proud. What with all her recent appearances on talk shows, I hope I'm not getting carried away in hoping this is only the start of many gay-positive and gay-friendly programming. Let's see where we go from here!
    Michie87's picture

    is it okay that I laughed

    is it okay that I laughed my arse off at the prop 8 thing xD. LMAO, Got to love sarcasm!, it made DeRossi hotter! ;)

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    Let it Rock,Let it roll

    vicky's picture

    she was great! and I don't

    she was great! and I don't think I've ever gotten the chance to listen to her slight accent. Very nice. 

    oh and I loved the PSA.

    p.s. is it really stereotypical that she reminds of a gay version of Nicole Kidman? I say stereotypical because they're both Australian and Nicole is the only famous Australian I know. 

    Jodie's picture

    GOD I love her!

    GOD I love her!