Ellen DeGeneres did. On-screen, at least, America’s queen of daytime television niceties has remained consistent. Since the debut of her self-titled talk show in 2003, she has been cute, folksy and resolutely inoffensive.
A-listers flocked to her sofa because they knew they wouldn’t be given a hard time. Her comic persona has always been light and observational, no cracks of angst or comedic hostility.
And yet somehow, in 2020, she’s become one of the most controversial celebrities in America.As if she were cursed by a vengeful witch at some point in 2019, DeGeneres has been trailed by career woe after career woe this year.