Ellen DeGeneres Abruptly Cancels Comedy Tour Dates

Published: 10:06 AM PDT, July 5, 2024

Ellen DeGeneres has canceled several performances of her latest stand-up tour, Ellen’s Last Stand… Up. 

The cancellations, set to affect shows this month and next in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago, were announced on the Ticketmaster website.

While no specific reason for the cancellations has been provided, Ticketmaster conveyed a message stating, “Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event.” Ticket holders were assured they would receive refunds within 14 to 21 days. Tickets for other dates on the tour are still available for purchase.

ET has reached out to DeGeneres for comment.

DeGeneres launched her tour in June, returning to the stage after facing allegations of a toxic workplace environment on her talk show. The 66-year-old comedian opened up about her “cancellation” and discussed her return to the stage  — and the public eye — two years after she ended her daytime talk show after 19 seasons. An eyewitness in the audience said the former TV host chatted about her life these days and those “mean” allegations that she said derailed her career. 

“I got kicked out of show business because I’m ‘mean’… You can’t be mean in show business, they’ll kick you out,” she joked, adding that at one point, she read a headline that called her the “most hated person in America.” Ever the comedian, DeGeneres quipped that while it didn’t feel good to read front-page fodder like that, it was doubly awful because it’s a title that holds no trophy or prize. 

She continued, stating that the fall from grace was made worse considering that she was once viewed as one of the most trusted people in the country and that fans and friends alike would often ask her to babysit their children. That doesn’t happen anymore, she said, noting that it actually isn’t the worst thing now that she is out of child-watching duty. 

DeGeneres — who faced allegations back in 2020 of upholding a toxic workplace environment at The Ellen DeGeneres Show and being rude — told the audience that while she is many things, she does not consider herself to be a “mean” person. She said that while the media firestorm was awful at the time, it has ultimately led her to a point of clarity and happiness in her life. It’s also given her the ability to make jokes about the situation. 

Also in the audience was DeGeneres’ wife of 16 years, Portia de Rossi, who the comedian said is her “best friend” and “soulmate.” The comedian often looked to de Rossi for assurance throughout the show as she cracked joke after joke about their lives post-scandal. DeGeneres even joked that her first cancellation in Hollywood was when she came out on her TV sitcom, Ellen, in 1997. She also said she expects one more cancellation in a couple of years when she hits the age where Hollywood has no more use for women. 

A year after The Ellen DeGeneres Show came to an end, a source told ET about how the former host was keeping busy. “Ellen is not retired. She did not renew her show, but she has never not worked,” the source said. “Although she has taken some time off from acting, she has a number of brands, an upcoming documentary as part of her Discovery deal, etcetera, that she is working on.”

DeGeneres’ current tour will be the basis for what will be her final Netflix stand-up special, six years after her last, Relatable, dropped on the streaming platform. 

In a pre-released statement about the tour and the special, DeGeneres said, “To answer the questions everyone is asking me — yes, I’m going to talk about it. Yes this is my last special. Yes, Portia really is that pretty in real life.”

DeGeneres is scheduled to resume her tour on July 8 in Denver.

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