Recently in Ellen DeGeneres Category

The lovebirds look as happy as ever here. I got no idea who the dude with the camera is.

"As the World Turns" on-screen couple Luke and Noah (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) presented Ellen DeGeneres with the Daytime Emmy Award Friday night for outstanding talk show host.

Bizarre that I did not even notice this until after the ceremony. Backstage, you have can watch the ceremony on TVs but when another winner comes backstage for a Q&A you often stop paying attention to the show for a few minutes. I think Tyra was holding court backstage when Nuke gave Ellen her award. They certainly are a dashing duo and Ellen, of course, is a goddess...

I'm writing this backstage from the Daytime Emmy Awards at the Kodak Theatre. Ellen DeGeneres was such a riot when she came back after winning for outstanding talk show host for the fourth consecutive year.

When there was a knock on the door, she dashed to the door and opened it, much to the shock of caterer holding a platter of food.

It marked the first first tine in four years that Ellen's show did not also win outstanding talk show so she went home with one trophy instead of two and joked: "It feels weird, I'm not balanced this year. This is gonna join all the others, i put them all in a case and I hope to build, a wing in my house."

She talked about how much she enjoys her work: "I love what I do and what I've wanted to do for a long time, I want to make people happy....This kind of thing, it's not the award itself, it's actually people saying, "You make us happy.' That means something to me."

Ellen was asked where she would put her Emmy and she said it and the others "are gonna be on top of the (wedding) cake. She and fiancee Portia de Rossi and planning to be married soon,
"Planning a wedding is very stressful," Ellen said. "It's crazy. My gardener is now invited."

Yes, we have set a wedding date," she added then was asked about bow being able to legally get married in California.

"I obviously feel like it's long overdue. I think someday people will look back on this like women not having the right to vote and segregation and anything else that seems ridiculous that we don't all have the same rights."

Here is some of Ellen's speech when she accepted the Emmy: "I want to say, first of all, I never take this for granted. Every single year. I know people joke about it, but I get nervous every year. It's not what we do it for, but it feels so good. And I want to say thank you, first of all, to the fans because yoiu are amazing, amazing people."

"We all know this has been a crazy year, and we have - my show, we've done a lot of crying and a lot of laughing, and then I cried all by myself, and then a lot of people laughed, and then I cried some more, and then I laughed. And I know you're counting me down, but it's the longest day of the year, i just read, so I can go on."

Well, at least there's one semi-cool member of the Bush family. First Daughter Jenna Bush, who got married at the family's Texas ranch a few weeks back, appears on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show today and had a fun exchange with her lesbian host who recentlt announced that she plans to marry Portia de Rossi.

Ellen: "So, the ranch was a great place to get married. It looked like nobody could fly over and get pictures or bother you, really."
Jenna: Yeah. That was really nice."
Ellen: So, can we borrow it for our wedding. Can we get the ranch?"
Jenna: Sure.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee published this story today: Signaling a generational shift in attitudes, a new Field Poll on Tuesday said California voters now support legal marriage between same-sex couples and oppose a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

By 51 to 42 percent, state voters believe gay couples have the right to marry, according to a May 17-26 poll of 1,052 registered voters.

However, the same poll revealed a California electorate that remains sharply divided over gay marriage - split by age, political affiliation, religion and the regions where they live. The poll was taken after the May 15 California Supreme Court decision overturning a state ban on same-sex marriages. The results marked the first time in more than 30 years of state polling that a majority of Field Poll respondents favored making gay marriage legal.

In 2000, more than 61 percent of voters approved Proposition 22, a statute declaring that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California.

Kudos to Ellen DeGeneres for having a conversation with John McCain about gay marriage on her show in a segment that airs today (check local listings).

McCain said in an interview taped Wednesday that same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into legal agreements for insurance and other purposes, but he opposes gay marriage and believes in "the unique status of marriage between and man and a woman."

No big surprise.

"And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue," he told Ellen, who announced last week that she plans to marry Portia de Rossi now that gay marriage is legal in California.

Ellen needled the presumptive Republican presidential nominee on the issue, arguing that she and him aren't different: " I think that it is looked at and some people are saying the same that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. Women just got the right to vote in 1920. Blacks didn't have the right to vote till 1870. It just feels like there's this old way of thinking (that) we are not all the same.. We are all the same people, all of us. You're no different than I am. Our love is the same. When someone says, 'You can have a contract, and you'll still have insurance, and you'll get all that,' it sounds to me like saying, 'Well, you can sit there, you just can't sit there. It feels like we are not, you know, we aren't owed the same things and the same wording."

McCain replied that he's heard her "articulate that position in a very eloquent fashion. We just have a disagreement. And I, along with many, many others, wish you every happiness."

"So, you'll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you're saying?" Ellen joked, lightening the tone again.

Replied McCain: "Touche,"

Here is a clip:

This clip is hilarious. After seeing it, I'm not sure Neil Patrick Harris' head is still attatched to his body!

Neil Patrick Harris is hitting the talk show circuit hard promoting "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantamino Bay" which opens Friday. But he spent more time talking about "American Idol" on yesterday's Ellen DeGeneres show saying that he is most impressed with David Archulleta who "I think will sell a trillion albums." He also defended arrogant judge Simon Cowell saying: "I think he's the coolest judge ever...Paula (Abdul) talks and talks and talks and talks."

But Ellen took issue with some of Simon's rudeness such as when he told Carly Smithson that she was dressed horribly: "He doesn't have to be personal and he doesn't have to attack and say, 'You're forgettable.'"

Well said Ellen!

Sen. Hillary Clinton musta read in Out Magazine that Ellen DeGeneres heads the list of the 50 most powerful gay folks because the presidential hopeful paid yet another visit to Ellen's daytime chatfest on Monday. Here's a clip from the appearance:

Ellen DeGeneres, who famously came out in 1997 with a "Yep, I'm Gay" Time Magazine cover, was named by Time Magazine as THE most powerful gay person on its second annual list of the top movers and shakers. The mag has Anderson Cooper in the number three slot even though he's never come out publicly on a magazine cover or anywhere else that I know of!

Some the people I'm especially glad to see included: Brian Graden (15), Greg Berlanti (19) Rosie O'Donnell (31), Lorri Jean (38) and Martina Navratilova (46).

Here is a LINK to the complete list.

Unlike bone-headed Jay Leno last week, Ellen DeGeneres has an intelligent conversation with the actor and never asks Ryan for his "best gay look." Enjoy the clip!!

The conversation is good, but the real highlight is the dancing...

Enjoy!

This item makes me wish Ellen DeGeneres could just take over the hosting of "American Idol" over an increasingly lame Ryan Seacrest who, too many times this season, is painful to watch. Especially that weird dynamic with Simon.

Anyway, Ellen and Ryan will co-host of "Idol Gives Back," the fundraiser which airs April 9 on FOX.

"Everyone knows it's better to give than to receive," DeGeneres said in a statement about the gig. "That's why I want to give you some advice. You get the advice and I get the joy of giving -- it's a win-win. Here it is: Give yourself a treat and watch 'Idol Gives Back.' Again, you get the joy of giving and an amazing line-up of artists get to give us an incredible show. Last year, we were able to give away over $76 million. You give, you get. Get it?"

Money raised by the special will be donated to the Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Make It Right, Malaria No More and Save The Children.

God bless Ellen DeGeneres.

More and more, she is using her television show to speak out about injustice and always does it with just the right tone. I haven't posted about Oklahoma state Representative Sally Kern's anti-gay tirade where she declared that "I honestly think (homosexuality is) the biggest threat, even more than terrorism" because I was afraid I'd go off and call her a %@#! and a *&#@%!!!!!

Ellen played for her audience the horrible words spoken by this woman and the looks on the faces of her audiences as they listened spoke volumes.

"I feel like there's some misinformation going on here and I think I need to call her," Ellen told the audience.

As she listened to the phone ring, Ellen added, "I'm trying to figure out which societies have disappeared that we don't know about."

Kern's voicemail was full (gee, big surprise) so Ellen left a message via the airwaves: "Give me call, I'm here usually and also later on I'll be at the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, of course, that's if it doesn't conflict with the women's basketball games I go to."

The entire clip is posted above...

Bravo to Ellen DeGeneres for speaking out on her talk show with such clarity and heart about the murder of Oxnard teenager Lawrence King who was shot in the head by another student in class.
Here is part of what she said: "Somewhere along the line, the killer, Brandon, got the message that it's so threatening and so awful and so horrific that Larry would want to be his valentine that killing Larry seemed to be the right thing to do. When the message out there is so horrible that to be gay you can get killed for it, we need tro change the message."

Ellen also said: "Larry was not a second class citizen. I am not a second class citizen. It is OK if you're gay."

Her comments will air tomorrow (Friday) at the start of her show...

Here is a link to the video via TMZ.com

Cad Womack, I mean Brad Womack, taped his interview with Ellen DeGeneres yesterday and it airs today. She apologized in person for calling the jerk a jerk earlier this week. Then Ellen let this smoothie (and father of a toddler apparently) tell why he went on national television allegedly looking for fame, I mean, a wife, and in the end did not choose any of the 25 women who all seemed to be in love with him - especially the final two contestants.
Womack told Ellen that he does regret telling finalist DeAnna Pappas the the finale would be "A good day" for her.
"I definitely regret that," he said.. "I don't know if I got caught up in the moment. I don't know if I was trying to comfort her. I bear the full brunt of responsibility for saying that. I do. She deserves someone to be straightforward and honest, which I thought I was. That's one very, very bad decision of mine that I made."

But he said he never asked that Pappas's father be flown out to the set on finale day which gave the impression that he was going to pop the question: "What I did say is a proposal was such a big deal to me that a phone call was not sufficient, if and when that proposal would happen. When it got to that day, I was informed that Deanna's father was flown out. I never one time asked for Deanna's father to be flown out. Never one single time."

I can just hear him saying all of this and it makes me want to just wrap duct tape around his mouth. Anyway, this poor, slick millionarie bar owner told Ellen he's been shocked by the backlash against him and, get this,. feels like he's going through a breakup himself.

"I did not take the easy way out," he said. "In fact, I took the tough way out in order to show these women respect, in my opinion. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong."

Then Ellen, who probably still thinks he's a jerk, ended things on a nice note:"I really appreciate you coming here," she said. "I'm so sorry that I judged you because I didn't know the full story."

I propose that Brad Womack not do anymore interview unless he has his shirt off so we can focus on his body and not his bull...

I'm looking forward to seeing Ellen DeGeneres' variety special tomorrow night and wrote a story that appeared in today's LA Daily News about it. So go out and pick upo a copy!
Oh, you don't live in LA? OK, here's the story - delivered special to Out In Hollywood readers...

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

Hosting an old-fashioned variety show could be just what Ellen DeGeneres needs right about now.

She's had rough go of it in recent weeks. First there was the drama surrounding an adopted dog name Iggy that led to Ellen crying on the air and now she's under fire for continuing to tape her syndicated show during the writers strike.

On Monday night, she hopes all of that will be set aside during "Ellen's Really Big Show," a 90-minute special airing at 9 p.m. Ellen will host established stars like Sheryl Crowe, Wayne Newton,
magician Lance Burton (Mary J. Blige was a last-minute cancellation))
and she introduces viewers to a lot of lesser-known acts. The writing for the special was completed before the strike.

"I've wanted to do a variety show for a long time," she says. "I really miss variety, I miss Carol Burnett and the Smothers Brothers. I love all the weird acts, the things you don't normally see unless you go to Vegas...I really think people are ready to see a variety show on prime time."

She was in talks with TBS to do some kind of special but was not keen on doing another stand-up show like she had done in the past, a format she says "is too daunting."

"I used to love on Carol Burnett when they would do sketches and couldn't keep a straight face. Also Sonny and Cher. It was a different kind of humor. I loved when I saw new comedians like Steve Martin."

What's not well known is that after the cancellation of her ABC sitcom "Ellen," and before the one season run of "The Ellen Show" on CBS, she had taped a variety pilot that she was hoping to do for CBS instead of another sitcom.

"I thought it was a really good idea and a really good pilot," she says. "But nobody thought America was ready for it. So we did the other one that didn't work out either. I wish that somehow the pilot I did would be able to be aired. It was sort of behind the scenes and on stage,Larry Sanders style."

So if it's not all about her and her comedy, then what's the appeal of doing "Ellen's Really Big Show" which was taped in Las Vegas on Thursday?

"It's close to stand-up and yet not as much talking," she says. "I have people to take over for a little while. I get to respond immediately to something that's going on. It's sort of why I had always done what I do. I really like making people feel good. If you are hosting a party, you want to make sure people are having a good
time. It's a challenge and it feels good. I like feeling the energy in the room when I'm helping that move along."

She hopes the writers strike will be long over. She was slammed by the union which released a statement saying "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than a single day."

Ellen skipped taping of her show the first day of the strike two weeks ago but, along with Oprah Winfrey, Rachael Ray and other syndicated shows, has continued producing new shows.

"I hope it ends soon. I hope people can compromise or figure it out. It's just the hardest thing in the world to drive on this lot. I'm stuck in the middle."

All Ellen DeGeneres wants to do is make people laugh.

Is that so wrong?

The multi-Emmy winner has continued to tape her daytime show without her writing staff which is on strike and their union are none too happy about it. The Writers Guild of America, East, is slamming Ellen and here is part of the statement they have released:

"...The Writers Guild of America, East is extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike. Ellen's peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise....We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful...We ask Ellen to cease doing shows immediately. She should stand by all writers and help us bring this strike to a quick conclusion. We owe that to the thousands of people who are caught in the middle."

Harsh!!!

Just finished a conference call interview with Ellen DeGeneres for a story I'm writing on her upcoming TBS variety special that will air Nov. 19. We were warned right up front by a cable flak: "No personal questions!"
As if Ellen, whose life is something of an open book, would care.
"I think I am exactly who I am," Ellen said when asked if her stand-up persona differs from her. "I have nothing to hide, nothing to worry about. My humor is raw, and it's honest."

When it came time for my questions, I wanted to know if her triumph as host the 2001 Emmys, not too long after 9/11, was a breakthrough for her as far as being able to go from being a sitcom star to a host. I reminded her of the wild standing ovation she received when she walked out to say goodnight and to introduce Barbra Streisand who closed the show by singing "You'll Never Walk Alone."
"I thought they were clapping for Barbra Streisand, that she had walked out early."
Nope, it was all for her.
"It was a difficult line to walk (hosting that Emmys) and I think I gained some confidence once I carried it off. It put me in a place where I trusted that I could be myself and it would be OK."

More of my interview with Ellen has been posted on my HOLLYWOOD JOE blog.

OK, so it wasn't a national poll or anything - just the opinions of the editors of TV Guide. But they seem to have made a good choice in including Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi among the top 10 power couples in TV. The magazine quotes theenvelope.com's Tom O'Neil tells the mag: "Ellen and Portia aren't just Hollywood's token lesbian power couple. They shatter all stereotypes. A few years ago, it would have been unimaginable to think that a lesbian would be the only Hollywood star entrusted to host the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, but Ellen's been ringmaster at all three. Portia's a proven talent in her own right, not a lesbian trophy wife."
Bravo!
Among my other faves on the list Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick and Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig.