Ellen DeGeneres tested positive for Covid: ‘I’m feeling fine right now’

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres wearing Celine poses in the press room at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Ellen DeGeneres has been back at work on her show since September. I haven’t heard much about the mood on set since Ellen’s first few weeks back, so I have no idea how long Ellen’s “I’ll try really hard to NOT be a raging a–hole” shtick worked. The show has had limits on their in-person audience too – I think at one point, the audience was all-virtual, but now there are people allowed in, but with masks and social distancing. And with more people in the audience, and more people in and around the set… well, you can’t control the environment completely. Ellen caught the Covid.

Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for COVID-19, and production on her talk show will be paused until January, Variety has confirmed.

“Hi Everyone, I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately, I’m feeling fine right now. Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines,” she wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.

“I’ll see you all again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe,” she added. A Telepictures spokesperson confirmed to Variety that production will be halted until January.

The shutdown comes as “Ellen” ratings were on a roll thanks to the show’s annual “12 Days of Giveaways” series. The show hit its highest rating since May during the week ending Nov. 29.

[From Variety]

Her 12 Days of Giveaways was an Oprah-like event where she gives away gift cards and, like, new bathrooms to everyday people. This year, she was focusing on giving the gifts to essential workers, including nurses and delivery drivers (see clip below). I think she had one more day left of giveaways? I hope she sends the gifts to the essential workers anyway! As for her illness, I’m glad Ellen isn’t feeling too bad. I wonder if Portia caught it too?

(Also, is it weird that she didn’t organize a guest host to fill in for her? I’m sure it was a contractual thing, plus I bet she was worried people might like “guest host” Tiffany Haddish or Patton Oswald better.)

Ellen Degeneres attends the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 05, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California© Jill Johnson/jpistudios.com

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.

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11 Responses to “Ellen DeGeneres tested positive for Covid: ‘I’m feeling fine right now’”

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  1. Catwoman says:

    Karma really is a bitch!

  2. Mumbles says:

    How did she get it, given she doesn’t even allow people to look at her, never mind get six feet within her?
    (Rhetorical. I just find it odd that a woman who hates other people so much got a sickness that’s spread by being near people.)

  3. Chica1971 says:

    NYPOST had a story about her yesterday.You may not hear from her because she is having problems booking folks on her show.No one wants to be seen as an Ellen. Apologist

  4. Lauren says:

    Well her show has been doing badly, ratings are down, they can’t find sponsors and cannot book a list celebrities. Even for the 12 days giveaway the prizes are not as grand as previous years because of tge lack of sponsors. A pause for covid might be a good thing. She could reflect on how she’s been living her life and comeback with a new attitude

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      This has been happening for years. Her image crumbling and details of why. It won’t be fixed now.

    • Soupie says:

      @Lauren
      But if she has a personality disorder along with relatively new wealth, she probably won’t learn, although I hope she does.

  5. Soupie says:

    In that photo with the blazer and the scary stare Ellen looks demon possessed. I was looking at some photos of her with Anne Heche. Ellen looked so much softer and prettier back then. I’m not saying that all women should look soft and pretty. I’m just making the comparison. She doesn’t seem happy. Not for many years. Too many. Was she always like she’s been recently or is this something that changed as a result of her success?

    Anyway I’m glad that she’s feeling fine. I’ve got walking pneumonia which is a fairly common thing with me. Got tested for Covid with the instant test and it was negative. Waiting for results on the molecular test (tomorrow?) I don’t think I have it.

    I think a lot of people get this and it’s mild. I feel so badly for the people for whom it isn’t and hasn’t been. I admit that when the doctor told me that she thought I had it, I got a little scared when I took the medicine and mistook the side effects for symptoms of Covid. Was a little bit freaked out at first.

  6. Teebee says:

    I had H1N1 in 2009. Literally, “just the flu”.

    I lost 15 pounds, never left my bed unless I cried and crawled to the bathroom for three weeks. I cried whenever I was awake, nothing but taking too much ibuprofen could dull the pain, even then for only a couple hours at a time. I lamented I was dying, that I wanted to be put out of my misery, and I was dead serious. The day I woke up without a fever, pain and nausea was miraculous and I have never forgotten that experience, to this day it triggers incredible anxiety when I start to feel a little under the weather.

    I would NEVER AGAIN want to go through the difficulty and catastrophic potential a body must go through with a novel virus. Not after my experience. And it was expressed very early on that the novelty of COVID was its most dangerous characteristic and yet that warning barely made a blip in people’s minds… there is a reason why this pandemic, in our most sophisticated and modern of times is overwhelming us. Many understood the nature of this beast, we just have developed too much hubris and arrogance to think something so innocuous as a “cold virus” could bring us to our knees.

    • lucy2 says:

      “to this day it triggers incredible anxiety when I start to feel a little under the weather.”
      I have this too! I had Lyme disease bad a few years ago, and physical anxiety attacks were a symptom of it (and the medicine, yay). I still get them out of the blue occasionally, but if I feel a even a little sick, my brain goes haywire with anxiety. It’s kind of like PTSD or something.

  7. Chaine says:

    One thing is for certain, if she hears that any show staff or employee of hers also has COVID, that person is gonna get fired!