Ellen DeGeneres puts up Montecito mansion for $40M after home was robbed in ‘inside job’ amid nightmare summer
After a nightmare summer that included a burglary episode, Ellen DeGeneres has decided to put her Santa Barbara home on the market for nearly $40 million. The Montecito mansion is on the market less than two years after the talk show host and her wife Portia de Rossi purchased it. The neighborhood is lined with A-list celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, whose friends Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently moved into the area, The Sun reported.
The Bali-inspired property was purchased in January 2019 for $27 million. However, the couple is hoping to flip the home for $39.9 million considering the extensive expansion and renovation they did later on. According to the report, the main home is 8,200 square feet and opens out with views directly into the pacific ocean. Replete with four bedrooms, five full bathrooms, a kitchen decked with black marble countertops and wood cabinets, the front porch comes with an outdoor fire pit and room for al fresco dining.
Ellen and Portia later bought another $1.9 million worth of adjacent property, where they built a 1,400 square foot guest house with cabanas, pickleball courts, more outdoor seating areas, as well as an infinity pool that looks out into the ocean.
On July 4, a burglary was reported at the mansion and police originally believed the property was "targeted due to the victim’s celebrity status.” A local neighborhood association, however, hinted that the local sheriff had told them the crime was an "inside job" and that the community needn't "worry about more robberies in the area."
"If it had been a case of outsiders coming in and breaking and entering, I'd have alerted you to be on the lookout and lock up everything," according to a newsletter obtained by The Sun. "According to our very helpful Sheriff Lt Arnoldi, that appears to be an inside job." Speaking to TMZ, law enforcement sources said some of the stolen items included precious jewelry and high-value watches. Bombshell accusations were leveled against Ellen a week after the burglary, with former employees complaining about her "mean" behavior and accomodating a "toxic" work environment on the sets of her popular talk show.
Several employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, a mix of past and present workers, came forward in a snowball effect with claims that they were subjected to "racism, fear, and intimidation” while working on the talk show. Many of them alleged that the host's "be kind” mantra is “bulls**t” and “all for show,” according to Buzzfeed News. The outlet reported that some staff claimed they were fired after they took "medical leave or bereavement days to attend family funerals." That said, there have since been further accusations of Ellen glossing over complaints of sexual harassment. And earlier this month, a former staffer on the show claimed employees often posed as members of the show's audience in order to stop genuine fans from getting "too close" to Ellen. The longtime TV star has strongly denied said allegations. In the new season premiere, however, she took full responsibility for any incidents that may have happened on her eponymous show.