The recent appearance of Ellen DeGeneres on The Oprah Show was called “An Oprah Show special event” and it really was, especially in terms of lesbian visibility. As her own wife refers to her, “the most famous lesbian in the world” joined Oprah for a discussion on her career, her marriage and her O Magazine cover campaign from the past year.
Here are some choice moments:
Ellen on coming out:
When I came out, it was celebrated but reports kept reporting on the reports, and people were like ‘Shut up already,” but I didn’t say anything.
On The Ellen Show being canceled:
No one called to say it had been canceled. I had to read it in the trades. I knew there was a possibility of losing my career, but I didn’t do it for my career — I did it for me to live in my truth. There was no shame. I don’t care if people approve of it or not it’s who I am.
Ellen went on to say she didn’t work for three years, became depressed and was running out of money. Trying to convince networks to give her a talk show was difficult because they thought that the perceived audience (“housewives”) wouldn’t have anything in common with an openly gay woman.
It was during these three years, however, that Ellen said she did a lot of soul searching and was able to discover who she really was, which led to where she is today — “the happiest and healthiest she’s ever been.”
Another reason she’s so happy is her wife,
