Fans fell in love with The Ellen Show as early as 2003, when the daytime talk show hit the
ground running, due to host Ellen Degeneres’ comedic wit and her tell-it-like-it-is demeanor,
while chatting with some of the biggest celebrities on the planet.
Although some of Ellen’s best interviews have gone viral as she appears to have a way
with making celebs feel comfortable, some, on the other hand, have not gone as smooth.
Viewers and even celebrity guests have been left feeling pretty uncomfortable after some
cringe-worthy interview questions, so mentally prepare yourselves as we run down 9 of the
most awkward Ellen Show interview moments, right here on Listed.
Have you ever been watching something so uncomfortably awkward and cringe, but you just can’t turn
it off? Yeahhh, this is what’s about to go down times, like 9, so don’t say I didn’t
warn you.
It was the shocking interview that seemed to start the entire fall of Ellen’s empire
earlier this year when YouTube beauty guru NikkiTutorials exposed Ellen for being ‘cold’
and not as nice as she led on to be.
“Oh my god, it’s an honor! I’m like, can you pinch me, please?” “Yes I can!”
“Oh god, it hurts. It’s real!”
Although Ellen appeared to be genuinely interested in what Nikki had to say about coming out
as transgender, Nikki later revealed during an interview that Ellen was ‘cold,’ adding
QUOTE, “It was a huge honor to be on that stage with Ellen, but it wasn’t as nice
as I thought.”
This seemed to be what kicked off many others, especially employees of Ellen, also coming
forward and exposing the truth about the toxic workplace culture, which we’ve broken down
over the past few weeks.
Alright y’all, so let it be known right this second that whether you’re talking
to a close friend or an audience of millions, bringing up your famous ex is the first rule
of “Relationship DON’Ts”.
This rule was apparently forgotten the time Katy Perry stopped by the Ellen Show when
she was challenged to a game of “Will You Perry Me?”
It was all fun and games until Katy asked Ellen if she hypothetically had to get married…
AGAIN.
Ellen completely forgot that Katy was previously married to actor Russell Brand, annnnd things
got awkward when she asked Katy who it was that she was married to.
“You were not married!” “Yes I was, when I was 25.” “Were you?” “Yeah,
it’s been a long time, honey.” “To who?” “No wrinkles, no lines.” “To who?”
“His name was Russell Brand…” “Oh that’s right, I forgot about Russell. Yeah.”
Even more awkward was that Katy revealed that Ellen had given them wedding gifts on a prior
taping of her show.
Thankfully Katy and the audience were able to laugh the entire incident off, but fans
at home watching were not as forgiving.
One user commented on the clip QUOTE, “I can’t believe Ellen forgot Katy Perry was
married. That divorce was everywhere.”
Another fan wrote, “Am I the only one who feels this is cringy af?”
As you may or may not know, Katy’s divorce from Russell was VERY BAD, with it being documented
in “Piece Of Me.”
But rather than forgetting the name of a famous ex, Ellen never really seems to forget the
names of Taylor Swift’s exes… and makes it a point to bring them up every time Taylor
appears on the show.
During a throwback appearance in 2012, Taylor and Zac Efron sang a duet together, and didn’t
pass up an opportunity to call Ellen
out for making things really weird every time she comes on the show.
“She always asks me who I’m dating every time I’m on this show. And I don’t even
know why, but it gets 5 million hits on YouTube. ‘Cause every single time I come on this
show, it’s really weird, really weird, all because of Ellen.”
Ouch….
But nothing really stopped Ellen from bringing it up the next time Taylor visited the show,
as Ellen continued to badger her about her love life.
“You were here with your boyfriend Zac Efron last time. How’s he doing?” “Umm…
we actually never dated.” “Yes you did. So, when you…”
Sorry Ellen, but it seems like the moment passed LONG ago.
But if anyone knows Taylor’s pain… it would be Justin Bieber! Buuuut at least Ellen
didn’t project a naked paparazzi photo of Taylor for the world to see.
That’s right, Justin’s face resembled a beaming red cherry-tomato when Ellen grilled
him back in 2015 about his Bora Bora vacation.
Instead of just… IDK, NOT showing the photo, Ellen went in on questions about his… mini
Justin, and then asked who the mystery girl he was vacationing with, to which he responded,
“just a friend.”
Things got really tense when Ellen claimed that she’d never just stripped down in front
of a casual friend
“She’s just a friend?” “Just a friend.” “Wow.” “Stop.” “I have friends I’ve
never seen them naked like that. And they don’t bring me to Bora Bora!” “Stop!
You’re making me blush, dude!”
Fans weren’t too thrilled with the photo being exposed, let alone Ellen digging into
Justin’s personal life.
One user wrote, “Imagine if Kimmel or Fallon brought on a female guest, and shared her
nude pictures that the paparazzi took without her consent to the audience. Just food for
thought.”
Another user commented, “They had to put the pic on the big screen lol? Ellen is cool
and all, but it was dumb to keep the nude pic up the whole time he was talking… you
could see it bothered him.” Speaking of being bothered, Ellen took former
First Lady Michelle Obama on a shopping spree to a CVS to prepare for her ‘regular life’
after Barack’s final year as president.
While Michelle was genuinely shopping for goods for her family, Ellen caused a scene
by opening unpaid-for products, overusing the megaphone, and at one point, attempted
to sign a sleeping baby’s forehead.
“Oh, Ellen, look at this baby!” “Let’s sign the baby.” “No, don’t sign the
baby.” “Do you want us to sign the baby?”
Things got so tense that Michelle seemingly had enough of Ellen’s antics, and called
her annoying.
“You know you’re really annoying. It’s like taking a three-year-old to the store.”
“Not everybody does everything for you anymore.” “Well obviously not! I mean, this was hard!”
Another celebrity who seemed to have had it with Ellen’s antics was Cher, and on not
one, but TWO different occasions.
During a 2018 trip to a Drybar studio, Ellen and Cher took over being hairstylists for
the day when Ellen seemed much more concerned about trying to be funny and crack jokes than
actually styling hair.
Once Ellen proceeded to sing karaoke to Cher’s hit “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Cher
turned to Ellen and said, “Of all the bad ones I've heard of me, you know, this is probably
the worst.”
But things got even more awkward when Ellen continued to badger Cher on some of the lyrics
to the song, annnnd then this happened. “She knows me! They know me better than
they know you!” “Oh, you’re such a b***h!”
Whether it was a joke or a not-so-subtle dig that was disguised as a joke, this wasn’t
the first time Cher called Ellen a bitch.
During Ellen’s popular “5 Second Rule” segment, celebs are asked to name three words
relating to the subject in five seconds, this particular subject being “things that turn
you on.”
While Ellen and Cher both agreed that they love chocolate, Ellen kept asking Cher if
chocolate "turned her on," to which Cher seemed to reach her breaking point.
“And then it turns you on?” “No, it doesn’t turn me on.” “You just said
it did!” No! I didn’t mean it in that way!” “Ok.” “Bitch!”
The audience definitely got a laugh out of it, but Ellen seemed a little put off, as
she told the audience,
“We both lost, I’ll be right back, she won.’t”
Awkkkkward…
Moving right along to comedian and host of the weekly Netflix show, The Patriot Act,
Hasan Minhaj taught Ellen a very important lesson during a segment of her show last year.
While saying his name, Ellen completely butchered it, which prompted him to pause what they
were about to chat about and set the record straight.
“And it’s Hasaan Minhaj.” “No.” “Yes.” “No.” “Really?” “Well
my name is Hasan Minhaj.” “Oh.” “I wanna do this -- actually I wanna do this
on national television.” “Good, please, because everyone that says your name says
‘Hasaan Minhaj. Yes, well this is a big deal because my parents are here, its Hasan
Minhaj.”
Thankfully Ellen wasn’t the first person to butcher his name, but Hasan then went on
to make a good point, saying, “Look, when I first started doing comedy, people were
like you should change your name. And I'm like, ‘I’m not gonna change my name.’
If you can pronounce Ansel Elgort, you can pronounce Hasan Minhaj.”
Welp… he does make a good point…
Celine Dion had no time for Ellen’s criticism about her son, Rene-Charles, and his physical
appearance during an interview from 2007.
While pulling up a family photo, Ellen fixated on Celine’s son’s long hair, asking when
she’s going to cut his hair. It didn’t take long for Celine to clap back
with a question of her own…
“Look at his hair. When are you going to cut that hair?” “Do you have a problem
with that?” “No, I don’t have a problem. That is some long hair!”
At first, Celine played it off smoothly, claiming that she’s asked her son countless times
if he wanted her to open his face up to show his eyes more, but in the end, Celine revealed
that he’s just gonna make his own decisions.
Although it was obvious Celine was a little taken aback by Ellen’s comment, Ellen seemed
to know that she was immediately in the wrong, and switched the subject to talking about
her music…
Nice save and all, but fans weren’t too thrilled with Ellen’s comment as many called
her out on her sexist remark especially towards someone so young.
One user wrote, “Ellen has some nerve giving a boy a hard time because his hair doesn’t
quite sync with his gender role…”
Another fan commented, “Love how Ellen conveniently changes the subject when Celine calls her
out on her judgey crap.”
And finally, Ellen has been known to ask guests about their birthdays, and when she doesn’t
score an invite, things get awkward.
But NOT for Dakota Johnson, who popped back at Ellen after getting flack about not inviting
her to her birthday party back in 2018, only to be stood up about her birthday in 2019.
Take a look:
“How was the party? I wasn’t invited.” “Actually no, that’s not the truth, Ellen.
You were invited. Last year -- no, last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me
a bunch of s*** about not inviting you. But I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited.”
Ellen then asked, “Well who wouldn’t want to be invited to a party?” to which Dakota
replied, “Well I didn’t even know you liked me.”
After some back-and-forth banter, even Ellen’s producers confirmed that she WAS, in fact,
invited to Dakota’s party.
“Ask Jonathan, your producer. Who says you were. I was invited? Yes, he’s right there.
Why Didn’t I go? I don’t know. Was it… Was it.. You were out of town.”
And thank GOODNESS this video is nearing the end, because I don’t know how much more
of this we can all handle!
For more details on Ellen and the many accusations of toxic workplace revealed by her employees,
you can click right over here to watch another Clevver video.
Then be sure to let me know which of these interviews you found the most awkward and
cringe-worthy right down here in the comments.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, see you next time!