Back in November, we reported that the comedian Ellen DeGeneres had fled America. She then moved across the world to the United Kingdom. DeGeneres has since been laying low in England with her actress wife Portia de Rossi of Arrested Development fame.
DeGeneres had reportedly been hoping that with this move to England, she could rehabilitate her image. Indeed, her reputation in the United States has taken a nosedive in recent years in the wake of her toxic workplace scandal.
Unfortunately for DeGeneres, however, this appears to be blowing up in her face. Now, insiders are coming forward to allege that DeGeneres hasn’t actually changed one bit since moving across the pond.
DeGeneres Reportedly Hasn’t Changed
DeGeneres, 67, has been working overtime to portray her new life in rural England as being idyllic. Last month, she claimed to be loving the “simpler” life that she has in her new home in the countryside.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” DeGeneres said during a July Q&A. “Everything here is better.’
“Everything you see is charming, and it’s just a simpler way of life,” she added.
Behind the scenes, however, insiders close to DeGeneres are alleging that the comedian hasn’t actually changed at all.
“People think the countryside and the chickens changed her,” one source told Rob Shuter’s #Shuterscoop. “They didn’t. She’s still demanding, still quick to snap if something isn’t perfect. Old habits die hard.”
“She’s in a new setting, but it’s still the old Ellen — charming in public, exacting in private,” this insider continued.
Ouch, that has got to sting for DeGeneres!
Real Reason DeGeneres Moved To England
DeGeneres herself has claimed that she moved to England because of Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November of 2024. Though the timing of her move initially appeared to corroborate that, it’s since been revealed that DeGeneres had actually been considering moving to England for years.
Rather than moving because of politics, it seems that DeGeneres likely headed to England in the hopes of escaping the negative reputation that she’s earned herself in the States.
“As a media expert, I believe Ellen DeGeneres’ relocation to the UK represents less a strategic career pivot and more an escape from a bruised brand in America,” media expert Michael Levine told The Mirror last week.
“The strong feeling in America currently is that Ellen’s career is like yesterday’s lunch — not very appealing,” he added. “While she was once one of the most beloved figures in American television, the end of her show amid controversy left a residue that audiences haven’t forgotten.”
DeGeneres’ Reputation Nosedive In America
Many would argue that DeGeneres only has herself to blame when it comes to just how badly she’s perceived in America these days.
For decades, DeGeneres was known as “The Queen of Nice.” She even ended every episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show by telling her viewers to “be kind to one another.”
That all changed in 2020, when DeGeneres was accused of presiding over a workplace at her talk show that was full of racism, sexism, and bullying. It was even alleged that her own staffers were told to never make eye contact with DeGeneres.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show went off the air in 2022. In the years since then, DeGeneres has lamented that she was “kicked out of show business” for being “mean.”
“The hate went on for a long time. And I would try to avoid looking at the news,” DeGeneres claimed last year. “The ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind. That was the headline.”
This was another major factor in DeGeneres’ decision to flee America and move to England.
“Ellen really felt she had made her mark on the industry. But that was diminished when she was cancelled over her alleged treatment of her staff,” a source told Daily Mail back in November. “Then to have celebrities call her out one by one was so hurtful.”
America ‘Doesn’t Like’ DeGeneres
The insider went on to say that the “all the ill will towards” DeGeneres in America partly led to her decision to leave the country.
“She has the one person that still loves her, Portia, and she is ready to leave everyone who in her mind left her hanging out to dry. If she considers it her retirement, so be it,” the source continued. “An enormous part of the U.S. doesn’t like her because of her sexual preferences. And others were turned off by her persona, which some perceived to be fake in the wake of the work place allegations.”
“For Ellen, it’s easier to move away from her problems than to confront them,” this insider concluded. “It seems like a sad end to what she once was in people’s minds.”
Given just how badly DeGeneres wants to rehabilitate her image, the last thing she wants out there are claims that she hasn’t changed at all since moving to England. In the end, if DeGeneres wants to save her reputation, it seems that she’s going to need to put in a whole lot more work!