Ellen DeGeneres Special Blasted for ‘Copying’ Taylor Swift

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres has been accused of “copying” pop star Taylor Swift with the opening of her newly released standup special, For Your Approval.

During the Netflix special, which was taped earlier this year and released on Tuesday, former daytime TV talk show host DeGeneres, 66, spoke about how she had been “kicked out of showbusiness” following an avalanche of negative headlines.

DeGeneres’ image took a hit in July 2020, when Buzzfeed News published an article in which numerous allegations were made about her show being a toxic work environment behind the scenes. She was also criticized by certain celebrities.

After her eponymous talk show came to an end in 2022, DeGeneres largely bowed out of the spotlight before recording her standup special in Los Angeles.

The TV personality faced the headlines surrounding her head-on in the introduction to the show. DeGeneres is shown sighing as a voiceover is heard asking: “Is the queen of nice really the queen of mean?” A series of negative headlines and social media posts targeting DeGeneres are then shown in quick succession.

Shortly after the special’s release, its introduction was shared on X, formerly Twitter, sparking discussion about its perceived similarities to the opening of Swift’s 2018 Reputation Tour, during which the pop star also shared negative headlines about herself.

An X user who shared the intro, described it as “soo ridiculous.” As of press time, the post has garnered more than 7 million views.

Newsweek has contacted a representative of DeGeneres via email for comment.

The post sparked a huge reaction from X users, a number of whom opined that the opener shared similarities with Swift’s tour.

“This is copying Reputation tour intro,” wrote one in a post that has been viewed more than 200,000 times, while another said: “This is just like the [start] of the Reputation tour.”

Referencing Swift’s anticipated reworking of her album, another X user quipped of the opener: “Reputation (Ellen’s Version).”

“This wants to be the Reputation tour opening so bad,” read another comment.

“Reputation Stadium Tour dupe,” another viewer weighed in.

Amid the flood of posts questioning the apparent similarities, a number of other X users spoke out in DeGeneres’ defense.

“The Ellen special has made me feel so many emotions,” wrote one. “Cancel culture is terrible, and we saw what it did to Taylor.

“Speaking about her struggles will really help people… [Her] talking about OCD was something I could really relate to, so thank you.”

“@EllenDeGeneres I will remember you as being [beloved]… for being loved,” said another. “Thank you. I am grateful. I am blessed. I love you.”

“If you haven’t watched #EllenDeGeneres new Netflix special you should,” another advised. “I thought it was great. And honest. And so funny.”

During her special, which has been billed as her last, DeGeneres told the audience: “I’m here because I love doing stand-up, and I miss doing stand-up, and I like making people happy, and I do care what people think.”

While DeGeneres has stated that her show ended independently of the unfavorable headlines she faced, she did speak of how much it hurt her—with a dose of the deadpan humor that made her famous decades ago.

“Here’s the problem: I’m a comedian who got a talk show and I ended the show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Yeah, I know, it seemed like a good idea,” she said.

“Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f*** yourselves,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”

“I got kicked out of show business. Yeah, because I’m mean,” she further stated. “You can’t be mean and be in show business. They’ll kick you out. No mean people in show business.

“Kicked me out before because I told them I was out. No gay people in show business. They kick you out. Can’t be gay and be in show business. Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old—mean, old and gay, the triple crown.”