Ellen DeGeneres: November 2007 Archives

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...

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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.