Ellen DeGeneres is bowing out from a decades-long comedy career, capping off a mixed legacy as a trailblazing queer pioneer and a bad boss.
“This is the last time you’re going to see me. After my Netflix special, I’m done,” she said at a July stand-up show in San Francisco, according to SFGate.
The retirement announcement came as fans asked whether they could expect to see her on film or stage anytime soon, with the comedian doubling down when asked if she would reprise her role as Dory in Pixar’s “Finding Nemo.”
“No, I’m going bye-bye, remember?” the 33-time Daytime Emmy winner said.
DeGeneres, currently on a national tour titled “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up,” has kept a low profile for the past two years.
The comedian — whose coming out on her ’90s sitcom fostered a cultural shift in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in America — has developed a controversial reputation after leaving her two-decade-running talk show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
In the recent stand-up show, the comedian didn’t shy away from the allegations that contributed to the show’s end — including those that she fostered a hostile, racist, and sexist work environment — telling a crowd that she was “kicked out of show business for being mean.”
“Next time, I’ll be kicked out for being old. Old, gay, and mean: the triple crown,” she joked. “I am many things, but I am not mean.”
DeGeneres, 66, will release the special to Netflix later this year, per an Instagram post.
