During an episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show', the talk show host expresses gratitude for the support she had received years after she was told that coming out as gay would ruin her career.

• Apr 29, 2022

AceShowbiz - Ellen DeGeneres has come a long way from the time she bravely broke barriers. "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" host walked down memory lane celebrating the 25th anniversary of her coming out moment, and got "so emotional" over it.

During the Thursday, April 28 episode of her talk show, the 64-year-old comedienne broke down in tears after showing a video of her coming out episode on her 1997 sitcom "Ellen". She explained, "Just have to say that it's so emotional to me because you forget that doing something that to me was kind of selfish."

"Everyone around me was making money off of me and thought that it was the wrong decision because they were still making money on me," Ellen added, "And you forget when you do something it impacts so many other people."

The wife of Portia de Rossi was even grateful she kept on going since her platform was able to help change people's lives. "And the fact that I know that my time here on this earth has helped change people's live… that is more than this," she expressed.

Ellen kicked off the celebration of her coming out during the opening monologue for her show. "It also happens to be the 25h anniversary of my coming out episode on my sitcom. When I came out, people warned me that it was going to ruin my career, and they were right for a while," she dished, "Actually, for exactly three years, I lost my career. But look at me now."

Elaborating more, the "Finding Dory" star pointed out the importance of acceptance and inclusivity. "It really goes to show you how important it is to be your authentic self, and how important it is to accept others as their authentic selves," she divulged, "I didn't see a lot of people like me on television when I was a kid."

At the time, Ellen noticed that a "Peanuts" character was similar to her. "Peppermint Patty of course. As soon as I saw those sensible shoes, I knew," The TV host jokingly said, "The creator said she wasn't a lesbian, but good grief." Her humor invited a lot of laughs from the audience.

Ellen rounded up her monologue by giving credits to her loyal supporters. "A lot of people didn't think this show would work because I was openly gay, and you proved them wrong," she remarked, "This job has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and thank you for inviting me into your homes for 19 years, and accepting me for who I am."

"I am so grateful that I've had this platform to not only give a voice to the gay community, but to all people who feel like they're not seen," she concluded by voicing more of her gratitude, "That to me is something I'm most proud of. Seriously from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you, thank you, thank you because of you."