Ellen DeGeneres talks coming out in trailer for first stand-up show in 15 years

Ellen DeGeneres performing her Netflix special "Relatable"

Netflix has released a trailer for Ellen DeGeneres’ first stand-up show broadcast in more than 15 years, which sees the comedian discussing coming out as a lesbian in 1997.

DeGeneres will star in Relatable, her own Netflix stand-up special, released on December 18.

“I lost my sitcom when I came out and it took three years for me to get back on television.”

—Ellen DeGeneres

In the two-minute Netflix trailer, DeGeneres talks about how her sitcom was cancelled when she came out as a lesbian in 1996.

Ellen Degeneres sheds light on coming out in 1997

“I lost my sitcom when I came out and it took three years for me to get back on television,” she says.

“There was this one station manager that said: ‘No-one’s gonna watch a lesbian during the day.’

Ellen DeGeneres, who is releasing a stand-up special on Netflix

Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty )

“I said: ‘Well they weren’t watching me at night. What time of the day is good for a lesbian?'”

DeGeneres previously opened up about coming out in July, saying she didn’t work for three years and that she was “bitter and sad and angry.”

Ellen DeGeneres’ Netflix special will hit screens later in December

In the trailer, DeGeneres also discusses emotional support animals (ESAs), which she has seen people taking on planes.

“I have an issue with all the emotional support animals that people are flying with now,” she says.


“There’s a woman with a ferret, there’s a man with a mongoose, there’s a lady with a donkey.”

—Ellen DeGeneres

“You’re walking down the aisle to your seat, which is 10B or whatever it is [and] it’s like Noah’s Ark.

“There’s a woman with a ferret, there’s a man with a mongoose, there’s a lady with a donkey.”

She then quips: “I say 10B, does a plane go back that far? I’ve never been back there.”

The comedian played eight shows throughout August in San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

Watch the trailer below: 

DeGeneres recently marked her 15th anniversary with wife Portia de Rossi by hiring a plane to fly by their house carrying a loving message—but the gesture backfired because the banner was too small to see.

DeGeneres took to Instagram to post a video of the accidentally hilarious moment, which she had arranged for her wife to mark 15 years since they started dating.

In the video, a plane goes past carrying a banner emblazoned with a small love heart and the number “15.”

However, the banner is too small for the couple to read.