Page Six reported on an alleged list of celebrities that are banned from appearing on Ellen DeGeneres‘ talk show on Friday, October 11, amid the controversy surrounding her friendship with George W. Bush.
Ellen, 61, came under fire after she was seen hanging with the former president at a Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday, October 6.
Yes, that was me at the Cowboys game with George W. Bush over the weekend. Here’s the whole story. pic.twitter.com/AYiwY5gTIS
— The Ellen Show (@EllenDeGeneres) October 8, 2019
“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 received backlash from the LGBTQ community over her comments as George, 73, had a history of anti-gay behavior while he was in office. She has, however, received support from friends including openly gay singer Elton John.
The alleged list of banned celebrities from Ellen’s show that Page Six reported on last week are ones that have expressed views that contradict her own, including those who have vocalized their anti-gay marriage views (George W. tried to amend the U.S. constitution to ban same-sex marriage in 2004).
Kathy Griffin, Caitlyn Jenner, Kim Burrell, Vince Vaughn and Sherri Shepherd were included in the group of stars allegedly not allowed on Ellen’s long-running daytime talk show.
The red-headed comedian has been vocal about her feud with Ellen for years. Kathy, 58, said it started when she opened her show with a monologue about how “mean” she could be. “Ellen did a monologue about how mean I am,” Griffin told Us Weekly in November 2016. “I was in the dressing room like, ‘S–t! You’re another woman comic, c’mon!’”
Ellen called Kathy “very mean” in a 2017 interview with W Magazine, adding “I know she had a big thing about wanting to be on the show, and we didn’t book her. She did a whole thing that I banned her from the show. I didn’t ban her from the show, because first you have to be on the show to be banned.”
Sherri, 52, Vince, 49, and Kim’s reasons for being allegedly banned centered around them each saying things that were deemed anti-LGBTQ. The gospel singer was supposed to appear on Ellen’s show to sing a song with Pharrell Williams but was banned over homophobic comments she made in a video posted online.
“I actually didn’t know her, her name is Kim Burrell. She made a statement she was doing a Facebook Live and she said some very not nice things about homosexuals, so I didn’t feel that was good of me to have her on the show to give her a platform after she was saying things about me,” Ellen explained on her show next to Pharrell, 46.
Sorry, until George W. Bush is brought to justice for the crimes of the Iraq War, (including American-lead torture, Iraqi deaths & displacement, and the deep scars—emotional & otherwise—inflicted on our military that served his folly), we can’t even begin to talk about kindness. https://t.co/dpMwfck6su
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 9, 2019
Actor Mark Ruffalo could be next on Ellen’s list as he publicly bashed the Emmy winner over her friendship with George W. on Twitter on Wednesday, October 9.
“Sorry, until George W. Bush is brought to justice for the crimes of the Iraq War, (including American-lead torture, Iraqi deaths & displacement, and the deep scars—emotional & otherwise—inflicted on our military that served his folly), we can’t even begin to talk about kindness,” he wrote.