Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres bid a tearful farewell to her daytime talk show on Thursday, saying that the show had "forever changed my life."

Noting that there was resistance to the show and that few gave it a chance of surviving, DeGeneres promised that she wouldn't be gone for long. Aniston gave her a welcome mat that read "Thanks for the memories." "Today is not the end of a relationship, it's more of a little break," she said.

One of Ellen DeGeneres' last guests, her pal Jennifer Aniston, had quite the joke about her divorce from Brad Pitt on the talk show's finale.

And I hope I’ve been able to inspire you to make other people happy and to do good in the world, to feel like you have a purpose. “I wanted to be a singer because I wanted to grow up and change the world and make it a better place," P!nk told DeGeneres. "You’ve done that in so many ways. "I hope that what I’ve been able to do in the last 19 years has made you happy, and that I was able to take a little bit of pain away from a bad day or anything you’re going through. So I am proud of this, but I’m proud of the family and the team that we have put together here." I feel the love, and I send it back to you. And if someone is brave enough to tell you who they are, be brave enough to support them, even if you don’t understand. "I want to rest, and then I’ll do something again, but I don’t know what it is.” "I walked out here 19 years ago, and I said that this is the start of a relationship. “When we started this show I couldn’t say, ‘gay’ on the show ... I said it at home, a lot. “Twenty-five years ago, they canceled my sitcom because they didn’t want a lesbian to be in prime time once a week," DeGeneres went on. It is the greatest experience I have ever had, beyond my wildest imagination So tWitch, one last time, dance with me." And today is not the end of a relationship.

'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' aired its series finale on May 26 with guests Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish and Pink. Here's how it wrapped up.

I feel the love and I send it back to you. Connelly and Lassner have executive produced “ The Ellen DeGeneres Show” since its debut, while Peralta has been DeGeneres’ chief of staff for 25 years. “You started this show the year after I was born. And if someone is brave enough to tell you who they are, be brave enough to support them, even if you don’t understand. “I just kind of leaned into the end.” I would walk into the kitchen and my mom would be watching you.” After noting that Aniston had been on the show 20 times over the years, DeGeneres asked how the actor dealt with the conclusion of “Friends” after 10 seasons in 2004. “I sure couldn’t say ‘wife,’ and that’s because it wasn’t legal for gay people to get married, and now I say ‘wife’ all the time.” The camera cut to DeGeneres’ wife Portia de Rossi grinning in the audience. “I was so scared,” Eilish said, recalling that episode. “25 years ago, they canceled my sitcom because they didn’t want a lesbian to be in primetime once a week. Not because it was a different kind of show, but because I was different,” she said. I was not allowed to say ‘gay.’ I said it at home a lot.

Ellen DeGeneres brought her nearly two-decade daytime talk show to an end Thursday with a celebrity lovefest.

“By opening your heart and your mind you're going to be that much more compassionate, and compassion is what makes the world a better place." The talk show represented a second major TV act for DeGeneres. In 1997, she made an indelible mark when she came out as lesbian and brought her character on the ABC sitcom “Ellen” with her. DeGeneres' daytime reign hit a serious bump in 2020, when the show was alleged to be a toxic workplace and three producers exited amid the claims. DeGeneres noted the “Friends” star has been on the show a total of 20 times. She introduced a career retrospective video that also touted DeGeneres' philanthropic efforts, said to include more than $400 million in donations to charities and “deserving viewers.” “I love you," a beaming Eilish told DeGeneres during their chat.

DeGeneres reflected on how much LGBTQ visibility has changed in Hollywood and beyond and invited guests Jennifer Aniston, Billie Ellish and P!nk to celebrate ...

“You really have made an indelible mark on this world, and you’ve made it OK for people to be who they are.” I would walk into the kitchen, and my mom would be watching you.” “You started this show the year after I was born. And now I say wife all the time,” she continued. “I walked out here 19 years ago, and I said this is the start of a relationship. Turning to the show’s origins, DeGeneres continued: “Twenty years ago, when we were trying to sell the show, no one thought that this would work.

Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish, and Pink stopped by for the final episode of 'Ellen' after nearly 20 years.

“I did a movie called The Break-Up. I just kind of leaned into the end.” Billie Eilish acknowledged the show was a regular presence in her household. “You started this show the year after I was born,” she said. “And if someone is brave enough to tell you who they are, be brave enough to support them, even if you don’t understand. “When we started the show, I couldn’t say ‘gay.’ I was not allowed to say ‘gay.’ I say it at home a lot—you know, ‘What are we having for our gay breakfast?’ or ‘Pass the gay salt,’ ‘Has anyone seen the gay remote?’—but we couldn’t say ‘gay.’ I couldn’t say ‘we,’ because that would imply that I was with someone. “You can see other talk shows now, and I may see another audience once in a while.” Not because it was a different kind of show, but because I was different,” DeGeneres said.

Jennifer Aniston, Pink and Billie Eilish were the final guests on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' which ended Thursday after 19 seasons.

I feel the love, and I send it back to you.” “I couldn’t say ‘we’ because that implied that I was with someone. “When we started the show, I couldn’t say ‘gay’ on the show,” DeGeneres said.

LEILA FADEL, HOST: Ellen DeGeneres's talk show will end its run today after 19 years and more than 3,000 episodes. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says DeGeneres ...

The backlash was tough. DEGGANS: That's DeGeneres speaking at Tulane University's 2009 commencement about the coming out episode. I mean, why can't I just say the truth, I mean, be who I am? DeGeneres' show emphasized the phrase be kind to one another, saying it at the end of episodes, creating a line of merchandise with the slogan, featuring charity drives and giveaways, and developing a subscription box filled with items she selected called the Be Kind box. ELLEN DEGENERES: I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. Still, there is a dark cloud over the show's approaching end, namely allegations published by BuzzFeed in the summer of 2020, featuring former employees saying the show was a toxic workplace, culminating in the departure of three top executives and an on-air apology from DeGeneres herself.

As seen in "Hacks" and stand-up performances, the world is still very anti-gay, even after Ellen.

And she almost did, in the end, when she said, "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," DeGeneres said. Ricky Gervais agrees with her position on Hart in his new Netflix special "Super Nature," which he opens with an explanation that nobody should take him seriously before unleashing a river of jokes about "the new women . . . the ones with beards and cocks. Aniston encourages her to return to live stand-up – a broad and varied field that includes in some corners where transphobic jokes are all the rage. When DeGeneres points out that she says "wife" all the time, the camera simply panned over to show her glamorous spouse Portia de Rossi warmly smiling and nodding as the people around her applaud this accomplishment. But in 2020, after Buzzfeed News revealed multiple claims of a toxic workplace environment behind the scenes that included sexual misconduct and harassment, and alleged that the host turned a blind eye to their complaints, that front crumbled. Succeeding in daytime talk means appealing to the broadest audience possible, which DeGeneres commodified by making "be kind" her motto and the show's unstated compass. To people like Deborah, an entertainer who built her fortune on playing to the middle, Ellen DeGeneres and her talk show represent the solved problem of straight America's tolerant view of gayness. Sure couldn't say, 'wife,' and that's because it wasn't legal for gay people to get married, and now I say 'wife' all the time." Then picture DeGeneres, all grins and sneakers, dancing with her fellow executive producer (as of 2020) Stephen "tWitch" Boss at the top of every show. Jean Smart in "Hacks" (Karen Ballard/HBO Max)All great art translates some version of reality – and in this scene, Deborah exemplifies the frustrating relationship comedians purport to have with people pushing back against aspects of their act that they find objectionable. "Hacks" acknowledges Ellen DeGeneres' broad influence by having its star comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) open her show on a lesbian cruise by dancing awkwardly to Pharrell's "Happy." This is uncharacteristic of Deborah, and her writing partner and protégé Ava (Hannah Einbinder) knows it.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ellen DeGeneres brought her nearly two-decade daytime talk show to an end Thursday with a celebrity lovefest and a forceful assertion of ...

“By opening your heart and your mind you're going to be that much more compassionate, and compassion is what makes the world a better place." The talk show represented a second major TV act for DeGeneres. In 1997, she made an indelible mark when she came out as lesbian and brought her character on the ABC sitcom “Ellen” with her. DeGeneres' daytime reign hit a serious bump in 2020, when the show was alleged to be a toxic workplace and three producers exited amid the claims. DeGeneres noted the “Friends” star has been on the show a total of 20 times. She introduced a career retrospective video that also touted DeGeneres' philanthropic efforts, said to include more than $400 million in donations to charities and “deserving viewers.” “I love you," a beaming Eilish told DeGeneres during their chat.

The guest list for the final show included Billie Eilish, Pink and Jennifer Aniston, making her 20th appearance – a run that dates back to the syndicated ...

For most of its 19 seasons the Ellen DeGeneres Show is where A-listers that were game for pranks and fun new products looking for placement would find a home. In her 2018 Netflix comedy special, Relatable, DeGeneres showed she still has her standup chops, as well as good inroads with the streaming giant. She also showed her edgier side, that’s been mostly off our screens since the 80s, with jokes about her cosseting wealth and frustration at having to dance for fans. But none of that stopped her from bringing Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian out as guests in her final few months. But then two years later she resurfaced with the Warner Bros-produced Ellen DeGeneres Show, a daytime chatshowthat launched at a time when Sharon Osborn and Rita Rudner were vying to become the next Winfrey. DeGeneres, an out gay woman, hardly looked the favorite. In 1998, a year after DeGeneres came out, Ellen was cancelled – a decision, she said, that caught her blindsided. In 2007, a former writer’s assistant accused her of treating writers on the Ellen Show “ like shit,” a theme that would revisit her in the end. The episode was celebrated in the LBGTQ+ community, but was also the focus of immense backlash. It was a risky move that took the brilliant comedian, whose soaring career stalled after she came out as gay, and remade her as the undisputed queen of daytime TV. But the show was dogged by scandal in recent seasons, as former employees accused her of presiding over a toxic workplace. In 1997, at the height of her pre-daytime popularity, DeGeneres came out as a lesbian to Time magazine and on the Oprah Winfrey Show; then on DeGeneres’s own sitcom, her character came out – to a therapist played by Winfrey, and to a love interest played by Laura Dern. And the jokes were often at her expense. It also saw DeGeneres’s brother, Vance, and her wife, Portia de Rossi, well with emotion as the audience gave the 64-year-old host one last standing ovation.

The comedian used her final episode to hammer home the myth of her own kindness, as well.

With the final credits rolling at last, we can finally switch the channel to something that’s “uplifting” for all of us. But even in the face of all that, DeGeneres isn’t sorry and seemed to dedicate Thursday’s final episode to hammering home the myth of her boundless kindness. The once-beloved DeGeneres hosted her daytime talk show Ellen for 19 seasons, but announced last year that the current season would be its last, following a slew of toxic workplace allegations against her that swiftly tanked the show’s ratings.

In this photo released by Warner Bros., talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, right, is embraced by Jennifer Aniston during the final taping of “The Ellen ...

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