Ellen DeGeneres Bids Tearful Farewell To Audience On Show's Final Episode

As chronicled by NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, Degeneres saw the sudden cancellation of her '90s sitcom and a stunt in her career opportunities after coming out as a lesbian in an episode.

Although she was able to piece some of her career back by the early 2000s after hosting the Oscars and voicing Dory in Finding Nemo, it was both her 2003 daytime talk show and the feel-good atmosphere and reputation it earned her that re-established her status as a household name.

But while many remained unimpressed after she apologized for the behind-the-scenes issues and shared how her production team changed in response, she maintained that her subsequent decision to end the show with its 19th season was not influenced by the backlash.

As she told Today's Savannah Guthrie, "If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year."

Instead, she revealed that she no longer found the show creatively fulfilling and hadn't for years up to that point.

Before she danced among her excited audience and exchanged hugs with some of them for the last time, viewers were treated to a retrospective that began with her show's very first moments.

In them, DeGeneres could been seen watching herself on multiple screens while sitting on a couch before turning around to her studio audience with a broad smile.

Before this happened, however, she took a moment to tearfully thank the producers who had embarked on this journey with her from the beginning and her chief of staff Craig Peralta, who she credits as her "rock" for the past 25 years.

Finally, she extended her thanks to her loyal audience and left them with a final mission statement.

In her words, "If I've done anything in the past 19 years, I hope I've inspired you to be yourself. Your true, authentic self. And if someone is brave enough to tell you who they are, be brave enough to support them even if you don't understand."

h/t: WGLT