It’s hard balancing the fine line of comedy apparently because Ellen DeGeneres is in deep water… again.
She just made a gay joke which is also a joke about jail (don’t worry, we’ll explain it) that has no one laughing during this difficult time.
Ellen DeGeneres’s time in quarantine has been anything but smooth.
Ever since the coronavirus forced people to stay at home and practice social distancing, The Ellen Show host has managed to rub fans the wrong way…
The first instance was when she complained about being bored, despite living in a mansion and spending her time calling up celeb friends.
Fans found this extremely tone-deaf , especially when compared to the suffering that’s going on around the world due to the coronavirus.
It’s been called the ultimate example of privilege.
Ellen has little financial worry, while millions of people are wondering how they will pay their rent or feed their families.
“Just to let you know… none of us care what celebrities do at this point. Nothing is funny about the virus or people not being able to work. They have money who gives a damn,” another added.
Not even her positive conversation with Michelle Obama could get some people back on her side…
And now, the backlash continues…
In a now-deleted tweet, Ellen posted a video of her broadcasting The Ellen Show from her home.
This puts her in good company with other talk show hosts who are doing the same, such as Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon .
Production on her popular show had been put on pause weeks ago due to concerns stemming from COVID-19.
Ellen began her at-home monologue as positive as ever by explaining that she misses working and wants to support her staff and crew.
She then applauded all the front line workers who are doing what they can to contain the virus and help others.
“I’m thinking of you and sending love to you all. There’s no better way for me to do that than from my show,” she captioned the clip.
But things took a turn when Ellen made a very inappropriate — and very surprising — “joke.”
“This is like being in jail, is what it is,” she said, referring to being in isolation for the past three weeks.
“It’s mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for ten days and everyone in here is gay.”
“The jokes that I have,” she said, laughing.
Thing is, no one was really laughing…
This is due to the fact that there are rising concerns over the coronavirus spreading within jails across the country.
For example, cases of COVID-19 at Rikers Island, a New York jail, have been soaring lately.
A top doctor at Rikers Island said that what’s happening is a “public health disaster unfolding before our eyes.”
So, yeah, not so funny…
Just take a look at some of the backlash Ellen’s been getting:
“You have any [expletive] idea how many human beings are locked in cells, sick, dying, terrified they’ll be next, because they couldn’t come up with a thousand dollars for bail, because they missed a court date, because they’re addicts, because we lock people in cells @TheEllenShow,” another angrily added.
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Plenty pointed out the irony of her calling her mansion “jail”:
The backlash is similar to what Arnold Schwarzenegger faced when preaching about staying at home while sitting in his hot tub and smoking a cigar…
The timing for Ellen’s insensitive remark is far from good.
Just a few weeks ago, comedian Kevin T. Porter invited people to share “the most insane stories you’ve heard about Ellen being mean” on a thread on Twitter…
Everyone from former staffers and even verified Twitter users came out of the woodwork to shift her halo.
Writer and comedian Benjamin Siemon wrote that she was a nightmare to work with:
“A new staff member was told “every day she picks someone different to really hate. It’s not your fault, just suck it up for the day and she’ll be mean to someone else the next day. They didn’t believe it but it ended up being entirely true.”
As we said earlier, it’s been a rough for weeks for Ellen…
So far, she’s yet to respond to the gay joke that she made (or any of the other backlash), so it’s hard to say if fans will hear from her.
