Is Ellen DeGeneres a sexist egomaniac? Host bullied and demeaned Dakota Johnson and Mariah Carey on her show
Apart from Ellen DeGeneres being accused of being mean to her guests and employees, she has also been, over time, been blamed for making derogatory comments about the female guests on her show, which led people to brand her a "sexist egomaniac".
Although 'The Ellen DeGeneres' host is famous for preaching the public to be kind to one another, she herself has been unkind to many women celebrities who have appeared on her show, mostly to create gossip and boost her ratings. Three such instances were when she interviewed Dakota Johnson, Mariah Carey and Katy Perry.
Dakota Johnson
Last year, Johnson's interview with DeGeneres went viral after the host made her squirm in her seat by striking up a conversation about the star's 30th birthday party in Malibu. The 61-year-old talk show host failed to remember that the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' actress had invited her to the party, which she did not attend. “How was the party? I wasn’t invited,” DeGeneres jested, before Johnson quickly reminded her that she was on the event’s guest list. “Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen,” Johnson corrected, adding that she had made it point to invite DeGeneres specifically in 2019 after the host had given her hard time about not inviting her to her 2018 birthday bash.
“Last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me a bunch of s**t about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited,” Johnson said during her appearance, to which DeGeneres responded, “Well, who wouldn’t want to be invited to a party?” Then Johnson argued that she doubted the host even liked her.
“Of course I like you. You knew I liked you,” DeGeneres assured, followed by a brief moment of awkward silence. “You’ve been on the show many times, and don’t I show like?” When the host pressed on, saying that she was pretty sure she did not get invited, Johnson contested by saying, “Ask everybody. Ask Jonathan, your producer, who says you were.”
“Oh yeah, I had that thing,” DeGeneres admitted after her producers said she was out of town at the time of the party.
Mariah Carey
Back in May, a 2008 clip of Mariah Carey's interview on DeGeneres' show resurfaced and started going viral on Reddit as people were outraged at the fact that the host forced Carey to reveal her pregnancy weeks before her miscarriage.
From the video, it was evident that she would stop at nothing to make Carey reveal her pregnancy after rumors circulated in the media that the singer was expecting at the time. Since Carey was not budging from her intention to keep her pregnancy under wraps, DeGeneres produced two champagne flutes and filled them with alcohol under the pretext of raising a toast to the singer. The whole point was to observe if Carey took a swig, as alcohol is something that pregnant women are advised against consuming.
"People are saying you’re pregnant. There’s rumors. Let’s toast to you not being pregnant if you’re not pregnant," DeGeneres said, to which Carey replied, “Don’t discuss that. This is peer pressure." Although her guest was uncomfortable, DeGeneres did not let up. As a result, Carey raised the flute to her lips and suggestively said it was "too early" for a drink. The host and her audience went wild with delight as it proved that Carey was pregnant.
Weeks after that she suffered a miscarriage. After she became pregnant with Nick Cannon's child in 2010, she opened up about her past miscarriage. "It kind of shook us both and took us into a place that was really dark and difficult. When that happened ... I wasn't able to even talk to anybody about it. That was not easy," she said.
Katy Perry
DeGeneres has made derogatory comments about Katy Perry multiple times. In 2017, when Perry appeared on her show, DeGeneres made her play a game called 'Will You Perry Me?' During the game, when Perry jokingly asked the host if she would have to get married again, DeGeneres feigned ignorance.
"You're not married," DeGeneres said, while Perry explained, "I was when I was 25. It's been a long time honey! No wrinkles no lines." The host then innocently asked who she had been married to, to which Perry was forced to quietly say, "His name is Russell Brand." DeGeneres suddenly pretended like she got her memory back, saying: "Oh yeah I forgot about Russell!" This was despite the fact that she had attended their wedding and given the former couple gifts.
DeGeneres also came under fire when in the same year, she wished Perry on her birthday by tweeting, “Happy birthday, @KatyPerry! It’s time to bring out the big balloons!” while sharing a picture where she was ogling at the singer's breasts at an event. The joke did not go down well with most of her supporters as she was branded 'sexist' online.