Ellen DeGeneres called out for making Kim Kardashian face her worst fear on live TV: "That’s a..."
Kim Kardashian’s appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show' on April 13, 2022, was nothing less than a nightmare come true when host Ellen DeGeneres decided to confront her biggest fear—spiders. The show started with throwback videos of Kardashian's previous visits to the show, which led DeGeneres to ask Kardashian, “What do you remember most about being here?" Kardashian revealed, “Honestly, my favorite memory has to be when you scared my mom. I’ve dreamed of being scared like that.”
The due recounted Kris Jenner's scary moment; however, a few moments later, DeGeneres said, “I’m not gonna scare you, but I wanna help you get over something…” Kardashian hysterically cut her sentence, sensing something was up, said, “No. No. No. No.” and began fidgeting in her chair. However, DeGeneres didn't stop at that. She picked up a box and started making a quick move towards the reality TV star, saying, “You are scared of spiders?" Kardashian jumped from her chair and screamed, “No, no, no! We have been through this before. I don’t care, I don’t care to get over my fear!” DeGeneres, still holding the box, nudged, “What if I hold it? What if I throw it?”—and she threw the fake spider at Kardashian, sending her into a panic. “It’s not real!” DeGeneres shouted, laughing. While the audience laughed, Kardashian was far from amused, and neither were her fans.
Kardashian's fans quickly took to the YouTube comments section, completely enraged. One viewer commented, "There's a difference between being scared and having straight-up phobias." Another added, "That’s literally a phobia, and you SHOULD NEVER scare people with what they are phobic of. NEVER!" A concerned fan shared, "I'm pretty sure it's not constructive to try to exploit someone's phobia. I have a friend with arachnophobia whose other friend sent them a pic of a spider because they thought it would be funny to startle them, and my friend wouldn't talk to them for months after." Some even labeled DeGeneres a bully, stating, "No means no, except to a bully!" Another emphasized, "Not cool tho, you shouldn’t try to make fun of peoples’ traumas or phobias, especially when the person says no. BOUNDARIES PEOPLE, if you’re not ready yet to face it, then you’re not ready."
‼️🗣LEMME TELL YOU| Ellen DeGeneres played a spider prank on Kim Kardashian. Kim is terribly afraid of spiders though. Did Ellen go too far? 🕷🕸💁🏾♀️@BrandiProctorTV @myfairladyt @TerraReeves_ @BmoreLifestyle @FOXBaltimore pic.twitter.com/7bVfU1w6p9
— Tiffany Lady T (@myfairladyt) April 18, 2022
DeGeneres's pranks were not only limited to on-screen but also off-screen. Per Cracked, Ellen once addressed to the Radio City Music Hall crowd that she "scared people constantly" on set, which she later realized could come off as "terrorizing" them. She recalled a specific instance involving an employee named Amber and her fear of snakes. According to the Independent UK, the staff accused Ellen of bullying and also with complaints including allegations of racism and sexual harassment. Following the controversy, the image of Ellen started to tarnish, and this reduced her fan following. One Twitter user said, “She’s also notoriously one of the meanest people alive.”
Ellen had addressed the issues with her staff in an internal letter, which read, "As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Some didn’t."Despite her commitment to change, the show's reputation suffered and eventually led the show to conclude in 2022. Per Independent UK, reflecting on the aftermath of her 'Last Stand-Up Tour', DeGeneres candidly told the audience, "I’m making jokes about what happened to me, but it was devastating." She added, "It took a long time for me to want to do anything again."