“She thinks we forgot what she did” – Ellen DeGeneres sparks OUTRAGE after admitting she’s ‘bored’ and wants a fresh UK talk show just 3 years after her cancellation – but critics across the ocean say she’s not welcome

Ellen DeGeneres appeared at a quiet UK event last weekend, casually confessing she’s “a little bit bored” and eager to jump back into hosting. But her offhand remark ignited fury online, as both British and American audiences fired back, calling her return attempt “tone-deaf” and “self-serving.” After her show’s explosive downfall and years in near silence, does she really expect forgiveness by rebranding overseas?

The backlash is growing—and it’s not just coming from Hollywood. Read what furious fans are now demanding before Ellen makes her next move.

Ellen DeGeneres on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.Credit : Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Just three years after the collapse of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the once-beloved comedian is inching her way back into the spotlight—and audiences on both sides of the Atlantic are not having it.

Appearing at a quiet event in Cheltenham last weekend, Ellen DeGeneres, now 67, stunned attendees when she casually admitted she was “a little bit bored” and open to launching a new talk show—this time in the United Kingdom.

“I want to have fun. I want to do something,” she said, flashing the same charm that once drew millions of daytime viewers. “I do like my chickens, but I’m a little bit bored.”

The room chuckled. But the world? It didn’t laugh.

The backlash was swift and brutal. “She thinks we forgot what she did,” one furious fan posted on social media. “She’s bored? People’s careers were destroyed under her watch.” Another critic called her remarks “tone-deaf,” noting the arrogance it takes to reemerge with a rebranded persona while never fully owning the fallout from one of the most dramatic cancellations in talk show history.

Ellen DeGeneres hosts ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

A Return No One Asked For?

The Ellen show, which ran for 19 seasons before its abrupt end in May 2022, wasn’t canceled due to low ratings or waning popularity. It was a scandal that burned the entire brand to the ground. Accusations of a toxic workplace culture—complete with claims of bullying, intimidation, and harassment behind the scenes—erupted in 2020 following a damning Buzzfeed report. For a show that built itself on a platform of kindness, the allegations shattered Ellen’s public image.

Though she addressed the claims in a Netflix stand-up special last year, making jokes about being “kicked out of show business” for being “mean,” critics argue her self-aware humor fell flat. The wounds, for many, remain open.

“I’m making jokes about what happened to me, but it was devastating,” she said in Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval. “It took a long time for me to want to do anything again.”

Now, with a new life in the tranquil Cotswolds alongside her wife Portia de Rossi, DeGeneres seems ready to test the waters of public favor once more. But this time, she’s looking abroad—hoping perhaps that the UK has shorter memories or longer forgiveness.

Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi.Ellen DeGeneres/Instagram

“Not Welcome Here”

British critics, however, aren’t lining up to roll out the red carpet. Some are already dismissing her as “another American celebrity fleeing controversy,” while others call her move “strategic, not sincere.” One local columnist wrote, “The idea that Ellen can wipe the slate clean with a new show just by hopping the Atlantic is insulting. She’s not an exile—she’s a disgraced brand manager in disguise.”

At the Cheltenham event, hosted by UK presenter Richard Bacon, Ellen flirted openly with the idea of bringing her talk show format across the pond. “I would do the same thing here that I did in L.A. I would love to do that again,” she said.

But fans weren’t buying the nostalgia act. “She’s not Miss Congeniality anymore,” one viewer remarked. “She’s the boss who let it all rot.”

Even British television insiders expressed skepticism. “Talk shows here are built differently,” one producer noted. “They rely heavily on trust, intimacy, and integrity. That’s a high bar for someone trying to reenter the game with this much baggage.”

Ellen DeGeneres on the final day of her show, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ in 2022.Michael Rozman & Sarah Haas/Warner Bros.

A “Simpler Life”—or a Clean Slate?

Since moving to the UK last November, Ellen and Portia have kept a low profile, settling into a slower-paced life. “We love it here,” she said. “It’s clean. Everything here is just better—the way animals are treated, people are polite.”

But for critics, her idyllic new lifestyle seems more like a calculated retreat than a genuine reinvention.

“She didn’t vanish. She escaped,” wrote one cultural commentator. “And now that the dust has settled, she’s ready to rebrand. But the public hasn’t forgotten how it all fell apart.”

In fact, many are still reeling from how quickly her once untouchable empire crumbled. Interns, producers, and staffers lost their jobs. Public apologies rang hollow. And for Ellen, the fallout marked a stunning reversal for someone once regarded as daytime TV’s most beloved face.

Even fellow celebrities distanced themselves. Comedian Margaret Cho once described Ellen as acting “like a mean girl” for most of her career. “She was not nice,” Cho said bluntly. “And it wasn’t a secret.”

Carefully Plotting a Comeback

Despite the backlash, Ellen insists she’s treading carefully. “I’m planning my next move very carefully,” she said at the event. But critics argue the damage control has already begun—and it may be too late.

“She had a chance to take responsibility years ago,” one former network insider told reporters. “Instead, she laid low, reemerged with chickens and horses, and now expects us to clap for her second act?”

According to Ellen, it wasn’t just professional reasons that prompted the move across the pond. When asked if U.S. political changes influenced her decision, she simply replied, “Yes.” She and Portia had planned to split time between America and the UK, but that plan quickly changed. “We got here the day before the election,” she said. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here.’”

But political escape doesn’t absolve personal accountability—and audiences are increasingly unwilling to forget.

The Verdict: Not So Fast

What Ellen faces now isn’t just a skeptical industry—it’s an audience that feels betrayed. Her talent, once undeniable, is now overshadowed by questions of character, integrity, and timing. Can someone whose brand once revolved around kindness win back the very people she left disillusioned?

“I don’t care how bored she is,” said one former fan. “You don’t get to hit reset just because you’re in a new postcode.”

As she plots her return, Ellen DeGeneres may discover that starting over doesn’t mean starting clean—and that sometimes, forgiveness is not part of the format.