Margaret Cho Says Ellen DeGeneres Was ‘Really Weird and Not Nice' to Her
Margaret Cho described her strained relationship with Ellen DeGeneres during an appearance on a new episode of The Kelly Mantle Show. The comedian said DeGeneres always treated her like a stranger when she came on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, despite the fact that they had been around each other for years.
'Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career,' Cho said on the show. 'I opened for her in the 1980s, when she was a headliner in comedy clubs. Later, when I would do her talk show in the 2000s, she would act like we just met.'
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She added, 'And I'm like, 'Bitch, what?' That's weird. We go way back. It's so creepy and weird.'
Cho recalled a specific incident that stuck out to her as especially odd. David Bowie appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show the day after one of his concerts, at which Cho dressed up in an elaborate 'Chinese emperor outfit.' Bowie complimented the costume to DeGeneres, but the remark was edited out of the final broadcast.
'The producer, who's a really good friend of mine, had to call me and tell me, 'I can't believe she did this, but she cut it out of the show,'' Cho explained. ''But you need to know that he was going on and on about your outfit. God said your name. He loves you.'' She admitted she wasn't sure if it was actually a vindictive move, but added, 'Still, I'm going to take it personally.'
DeGeneres' image took a hit in 2020 following a series of reports by BuzzFeed News in which employees at her show alleged racism, sexual misconduct, and intimidation at the hands of executive producers. Three producers were fired because of it, and DeGeneres issued an on-air apology. In 2022, singer Greyson Chance, whom DeGeneres signed to her label, told Rolling Stone he had 'never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered, and more blatantly opportunistic.' The Ellen DeGeneres Show ultimately ended in 2022 after 19 seasons.
The host has since addressed the controversy on tour and in a stand-up special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, which aired on Netflix. 'The Be Kind Girl wasn't kind — that was the headline,' DeGeneres said in the special. 'Here's the problem, I'm a comedian who got a talk show, and I ended the show every day by saying, 'Be kind to one another.' Had I ended my show by saying, 'Go fuck yourselves,' people would've been pleasantly surprised to find out I'm kind.'
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