Ellen DeGeneres Wipes Away Tears As Obama Lauds Her For Breaking Barriers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqhta-aFWkU
At the ceremony, she held back tears as a short speech was read celebrating her accomplishments:
Good for Ellen. I heard her interviewed on Howard Stern last year and she talked about how she was basically out of a job after her show was cancelled and no one would hire her-she went into a deep depression.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqhta-aFWkU
Ellen DeGeneres on Tuesday was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, alongside 20 other artists, athletes, scientists and philanthropists.
President Barack Obama ― who had to stop mid-address because he was “getting kind of choked up” ― bestowed the award on the television host for her unwavering ability to make “you laugh about something, rather than at someone.” He praised DeGeneres’ historic bravery for publicly coming out of the closet nearly two decades ago, putting her career in jeopardy.
“It’s easy to forget now, when we’ve come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law, just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago. Just how important it was not just for the LGBT community, but for all us to see somebody so full of kindness and light. Somebody we liked so much, somebody who could be our neighbor or our colleague or our sister challenge our own assumptions. Remind us that we have more in common than we realize, push our country in the direction of justice. What an incredible burden it was to bear, to risk your career like that. People don’t do that very often.”
At the ceremony, she held back tears as a short speech was read celebrating her accomplishments:
“In a career spanning three decades, Ellen DeGeneres has lifted our spirits and brought joy to our lives as a stand-up comic, actor, and television star. In every role she reminds us to be kind to one another and to treat people as each of us wants to be treated. At a pivotal moment, her courage and candor helped change the hearts and minds of millions of Americans, accelerating our nation’s constant drive toward equality and acceptance for all. Again and again, Ellen DeGeneres has shown us that a single individual can make the world a more fun, more open, more loving place so long as we just keep swimming.”
Good for Ellen. I heard her interviewed on Howard Stern last year and she talked about how she was basically out of a job after her show was cancelled and no one would hire her-she went into a deep depression.
It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago.Ellen: “I was definitely getting attacked, but I was on such a high of like doing the right thing for me, that I didn't care. But then when the show got canceled, when I lost everything, that's when I was like, 'what am I gonna do?'”
[…]
Howard: “Do your agents start abandoning you?”
Ellen: “Yeah, I didn't have agents. I didn't have anybody.”
Howard: “You mean they wouldn't touch you anymore.”
Ellen: “Yeah.”