Ellen DeGeneres is putting on a brave face for her upcoming Ellen’s Last Stand…Up Live comedy tour, but behind the scenes she’s moaning how she hates the fact her career is essentially back at the drawing board, sources exclusively tell Closer.
The famed talk show host, 66, whose life was turned upside down when she was accused of fostering a toxic work environment, has been forced to rebuild by returning to her stand-up roots, the source says — and she’s gearing up to hit the road this month.
“The one good part of all this is that, by returning to stand-up, Ellen actually has an outlet for some of the anger she feels about how things ended,” the insider says. “And she gets to play to her strengths, because Ellen is still a formidable live performer and can electrify an audience with her unique energy.”
Produced by Live Nation, the 27-date tour is being billed as Ellen’s “farewell tour,” and it will kick off Wednesday, June 19, in San Diego, California. According to producers, she is “poised to reintroduce her trademark wit and laughter-inducing anecdotes back to the spotlight.”
However, Closer‘s sources say the Emmy Award winner is less than enthused. “Friends would not describe Ellen as a ‘happy warrior’ right now,” the insider says. “Instead, she’s wearing her grumpiness on her sleeve and being refreshingly honest about the beatdown she took during the height of her scandal.”
In July 2020, multiple former The Ellen DeGeneres Show employees accused the comedian of creating a “toxic” on-set atmosphere. Ellen eventually issued an apology during the show’s season 18 opening in September 2020.
During her upcoming stand-up sets, Ellen will likely “show her angry side a little bit” and “address the wacky headlines and rumors about her retiring or shunning the business entirely,” says the source.
Regardless, audience members are sure to walk away with smiles on their faces. “Take it to the bank, Ellen has the entertainment business in her blood and even though her talk show and some of her side businesses went kaput during her scandal, she’s going to be entertaining people until the day she dies,” the insider continues.
“But Job One is to get her material in order for her tour and upcoming Netflix special, which is meant to be a definitive statement on what she went through and how it changed her forever,” adds the source. “Ellen accepts what happened to her, but only barely.”
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