Elton John spoke out about Ellen DeGeneres defending her friendship with George W. Bush in a new interview.
Ellen, 61, came under fire after she was seen hanging with the former president at a Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday, October 6.
“I’m friends with George Bush… just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them,” she said in a monologue on her talk show on Monday, October 7. “When I say, ‘Be kind to one another,’ I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.”
Ellen defending her friendship with George, 73, didn’t sit well with many members of the LGBTQ community who were quick to bring up him trying to amend the U.S. constitution to ban same-sex marriage and fighting to stop gay soldiers from serving in the armed forces during his presidency.
Elton, 72, defended Ellen’s words in an interview with NPR on Sunday, October 13. The “Rocketman” singer has been busy promoting his memoir Me, which was officially released on Tuesday, October 15.
“I admire Ellen for standing up and saying what she said,” Elton said. “George Bush has made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. Ellen DeGeneres has made a lot of mistakes.”
“People need to come together […] They need to respect people’s view on life,” he continued. “Except when it’s heresy, and I don’t think George Bush is that kind of guy.”
The music legend has a history of being chummy towards anti-LGBTQ individuals, notably right wing shock jock Rush Limbough who reportedly paid him $1 million dollars to perform at his wedding ceremony in 2010.