Netflix
Finally, some good news: Ellen Degeneres may be well and truly retired.
After her daytime talk show The Ellen Degeneres Show went off the air in the Spring of 2022, Netflix has announced they’ll be releasing what promises to be her “final” stand-up special on September 24. And given that she doesn’t do any acting these days, that likely means the end of her career.
According to Degeneres and Netflix, the special — coinciding with Degeneres’ upcoming Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour — will address her being canceled following allegations of enabling a toxic on-set workplace.
“For the first time in six years, Ellen DeGeneres returns to the stage in her new comedy special Ellen Degeneres: For Your Approval. The final comedy special of her historic career, Ellen gets personal and reveals what she’s been doing since being ‘kicked out of show business,'” Netflix said in an official press release.
“From the mundane world of raising chickens and parallel parking to the harsh reality of becoming a brand-name celebrity, she goes deep into her stand-up roots and brings laughs through life’s most real and absurd realities.”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which aired on NBC for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022, ended in May 2022 following allegations of on-set racism, sexual misconduct (against producers, not Ellen herself), and intimidation.
Given that Ellen’s brand was kindness — she ended every show by saying “Be kind to one another” — the allegations were a death blow to the show despite Degeneres’ on-air apology and WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery) firing three producers.
Ellen Degeneres: For Your Approval will premiere on Sept 24. This will be Ellen's last special and yes, she's going to talk about it. pic.twitter.com/MovMunV7wV
— Netflix (@netflix) September 3, 2024
“To answer the questions everyone is asking me — Yes, I’m going to talk about it. Yes, this is my last special. Yes, Portia really is that pretty in real life,” the disgraced daytime TV host and comedian said in a statement announcing the project.
Degeneres previously released the stand-up special Ellen Degeneres: Relatable on Netflix in 2018, before her career was turned upside down and effectively ended in the 2020s.