“Mean, old & gay” Ellen DeGeneres is still bitter years after ending her show

Former daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres stepped out of self-imposed exile this week with the first stop on a promised summer-long stand-up comedy tour — and she’s still whining.

“Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business,” DeGeneres complained sarcastically from the stage at West Hollywood’s Largo at the Coronet Theater, according to Rolling Stone.

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Her people deny everything.

“There’s no mean people in show business,” she continued. “I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f**k yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

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DeGeneres, 66, is still sore two years after her popular talk show cratered amid accusations of rampant racism, sexual misconduct, and intimidation at the hands of executive producers. Three top EPs were fired. DeGeneres issued a poorly received on-air apology, but the damage was already done. Production company Telepictures pulled the plug after a 19-season run that ended in May 2022.

“I used to say that I didn’t care what other people thought of me,” DeGeneres said. But then she realized, “I said that at the height of my popularity.”

“It is such a waste of time to worry about what other people think,” she added.

Forbes estimated the former talk show host’s worth at $370 million in 2020.

“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business,” DeGeneres said. Her groundbreaking 90s sitcom Ellen was canceled not long after she came out as gay.

“Eventually, they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay,” DeGeneres droned on, sounding old, mean, and gay. “It’s been such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem.”

“There’s such extremes in this business,” she reminded her audience of hardcore fans. “People either love you and idolize you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.”

The kvetching continued in a post-set chat onstage, where the people who love and idolize her got to ask questions.

“It was so hurtful. I couldn’t gain perspective. I couldn’t do anything to make myself understand that it wasn’t personal,” DeGeneres moaned. “I just thought, ‘Well, this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it’s ending.’”