In this file photo taken on February 11, 2016 US President Barack Obama and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres speak during a break in the taping of The Ellen DeGeneres show at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California. MANDEL NGAN / AFP
For nearly two decades, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and its openly lesbian host have beamed into homes across America, busting stereotypes and charming daytime TV audiences with a feel-good blend of quirky comedy and celebrity cameos.
After more than 3,000 episodes, a talk show that came to rival even Oprah Winfrey’s in terms of its cultural impact aired its last episode on Thursday.
Arguably the most famous LGBTQ person in America, DeGeneres came out back in 1997, when she was still a rising comedian and sitcom star.
Immediately hailed as a gay icon, DeGeneres has since helped transform mainstream attitudes towards the lesbian community.
So when the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay marriage in 2008, it was little surprise that she and actress Portia de Rossi decided to tie the knot.
“I would like to say right now – for the first time, I am announcing, I am getting married,” she told her delighted audience.
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DeGeneres is known for dancing with her audiences at the start of each show.
Guests are also invited to offer a few moves – including an ambitious young senator called Barack Obama in 2007.
“You’re the best dancer so far of the presidential candidates,” DeGeneres told Obama, as he grooved to Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love.”
“It’s a low mark. But I’m pretty sure I’ve got better moves than (Rudy) Giuliani,” he replied, referring to the former Republican candidate.
In 2011, young British girls Rosie McClelland and Sophia Grace Brownlee were invited onto the show dressed in frilly pink tutus to perform their recently viral rendition of Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.”
What came next melted audience and viewer hearts, and the cousins from Essex have returned multiple times since, hosting a segment called “Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie” – and eventually meeting Minaj on stage.
It has not all been lightness and fun on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with one particularly excruciating moment in 2019 when actress Dakota Johnson appeared on Ellen’s couch.
DeGeneres jokingly complained that she had not been invited to the Fifty Shades star’s birthday party, to which Johnson bluntly replied: “That’s not the truth, Ellen.”
As the host frantically tried to backpedal, a seemingly offended Johnson stuck to her guns, adding: “Ask anybody.”
The exchange swiftly went viral and was turned into countless memes, with some detractors even alleging that this moment exposed DeGeneres’ chummy persona as less than genuine.
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Arguably the show’s most controversial moment came in 2019, when comedian Kevin Hart appeared as a guest soon after losing his role as Oscars host over a series of homophobic tweets.
DeGeneres backed Hart and told the audience she had personally called the Academy in the hope of having him rehired.
“As a gay person… I am sensitive to all of that,” said DeGeneres, before imploring Hart to not “let those people win,” and to “host the Oscars.”
Both DeGeneres and Hart were criticized for the conversation, with LGBTQ groups accusing the host of failing to stand up for her community, and also assuming to speak on its behalf.
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