Ellen DeGeneres decided to return to show business because she is an ‘artist’ who feels the urge to ‘entertain,’ it has been claimed.
The 66-year-old comedian is preparing for her comeback tour Ellen’s Last Stand… Up, which begins next week in Spokane, Washington.
She last toured in 2018 – four years before her daytime talk show ended amid a blizzard of allegations about its ‘toxic’ work environment.
But she has now placed the drama of the past behind her and returned to the stage, performing multiple shows in Los Angeles before going on the road.
‘She needed some time to recover. But she’s an artist, she wants to entertain – she can’t just sit at home,’ a longstanding friend of hers informed Page Six.
Ellen DeGeneres decided to return to show business because she is an ‘artist’ who feels the urge to ‘entertain,’ it has been claimed; pictured at a recent gig at the Largo in Los Angeles
‘Ellen is a comedian,’ another pal reasoned. ‘They all have their peccadillos, but this is her life and she wants to talk about everything she went through and where she is now in her life, sharing who she is. Look at Jerry Seinfeld, he does stand-up all the time. Why shouldn’t she get back on stage?’
However, although she is launching a comeback to stand-up comedy, she is less eager to return to the world of daytime television.
‘Why would she go back?’ argued one insider, who evidently has a professional relationship with Ellen that stretches back decades.
‘She accomplished so much, she made great entertainment. She has refocused her life and her priorities,’ the source explained.
Before her tour begins, Ellen has been performing a string of stand-up shows in Los Angeles – and been supported by a number of her fellow celebrities in the process.
A recent performance had a star-studded audience that included Khloe Kardashian and her mother Kris Jenner, as well as Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom.
She was said to have earned ‘roaring applause’ at an April stand-up show at Club Largo, in which she joked about her fall from grace after she was plagued with a toxic workplace scandal that tarnished her reputation as TV’s favorite host.
She recalled getting ‘kicked out of show business’ for being ‘mean,’ per Rolling Stone.
She last toured in 2018 – four years before her daytime talk show ended amid a blizzard of allegations about its ‘toxic’ work environment
She has returned to the stage, performing multiple shows in Los Angeles before going on the road; pictured during one of her recent gigs
DeGeneres continued: ‘The hate went on for a long time and I would try to avoid looking at the news. The “be kind” girl wasn’t kind. That was the headline.’
‘There’s no mean people in show business… I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps,’ she continued.
‘Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, “Go f*** yourself,” people would’ve been pleasantly surprised,’ the star cracked.
‘The show was called Ellen and everybody was wearing T-shirts that said “Ellen” and there were buildings on the Warner Brothers lot that said Ellen, but I don’t know that that meant I should be in charge,’ she reflected.
Ellen has been promoting her upcoming comedy tour
Ellen promoted her imminent tour in her latest Instagram post, which was shared with her 139 million followers.
She shared a video clip while preparing to perform at Club Largo as part of her string of pre-tour stand-up shows.
In the recording she said to the camera, ‘I’m about to go on stage here at Largo. Very excited. I have a few more shows here before I go out on the road and do some big theatres. So this is a fun, intimate place to see me if you can.’
In the caption she wrote, ‘Backstage at Largo from last night’s show. Two dates just added- June 12 and 13. They’re my last two shows in LA before I hit the road! Tickets are in the link in my bio.’
