Ellen DeGeneres on Portia de Rossi: ‘Being her wife is the greatest thing I am’

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Wednesday was Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s ninth wedding anniversary. For those wondering what to get them, traditional is china or pottery and modern is leather. Maybe a nice tea cup wrapped in a motorcycle jacket? The couple has been together for 13 years total and despite some whisperings in the tabloids, are seen as one of the more solid unions in Hollywood. Whereas I don’t love everything Ellen does, I do adore her and Portia together. To commemorate the occasion, they posted some lovely tributes to each other on Instagram:

@PortiadeRossi and I got married 9 years ago today. Being her wife is the greatest thing I am.

A post shared by Ellen (@theellenshow) on

As you know, I was born without the romantic gene, so I would post something similar to Portia’s. But Ellen’s comment is beautiful. Plus, I’ve always loved their wedding photos. I can never decide which outfit I liked more.

Both posts’ comments were flooded with good cheer. Singer Joshua Radin, who performed at their wedding, gave them a shout out on his Instagram:

Portia and Ellen’s marriage is significant not only for lasting but remember that the legality of their union was called into question when the absurd Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage passed in California. Fortunately, the California Supreme Court ruled that they were still legally married as their wedding took place prior to November 2008. Although California eventually overturned Prop 8, could you imagine waiting to hear from the State Supreme Court if you ‘get’ to stay married? It still fills me with embarrassment and I actively campaigned against Prop 8.

Alas, love won out and they seem to be thriving as a couple. I enjoy seeing Ellen so happy since she went through so much to get there. She covers the latest issue of Good Housekeeping and in it, she opens up about the depths of her depression after she came out:

“The bullying I endured [in Hollywood] after I came out made up for the lack of it during my childhood,” she says. Her sitcom was canceled, and opportunities vanished. “I moved out of L.A., went into a severe depression, started seeing a therapist and had to go on antidepressants for the first time in my life,” she says. “It was scary and lonely. All I’d known for 30 years was work, and all of a sudden I had nothing. Plus, I was mad. It didn’t feel fair — I was the same person everyone had always known.”

Holding on to grudges will do you no good, so let them go. Ellen, for example, is now one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, and if vengefulness were in her nature, she could certainly find ways to punish those who turned their backs on her when she was at her most vulnerable. But she’s long since moved on. “I definitely remember who those people were, but I’ve forgiven them,” she says.

“I understand it. I wish it was different. Show business is a business, and what I did was controversial at the time. There were sitcoms before and after mine showing people making out and having sex, and yet my show suddenly got an ‘Adult Content’ warning. Nobody told me that was going to happen. I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw it. It was so insulting! Now, though, when I see those people at functions, there’s definitely an unspoken ‘I made a mistake’ on their part and also an unspoken ‘I accept your apology’ on mine.”

[From Good Housekeeping]

It is hard to believe, in 2017, how horrible life became for Ellen for being honest about herself. That’s why her comeback was particularly sweet to watch. And I kind of love that the writer casually throws it out there that Ellen could crush everyone who turned their backs on her. When Good Housekeeping goes Goodfellas. Ellen remembers everyone one of them too, she just forgiving. For now.

Congratulations Ellen and Portia. May you have many more years of laughter and love.

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Photo credit: Instagram, Getty Images WENN Photos

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26 Responses to “Ellen DeGeneres on Portia de Rossi: ‘Being her wife is the greatest thing I am’”

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  1. crazydaisy says:

    Love them. Happy Anniversary!!

  2. smcollins says:

    I’ve loved Ellen since her stand-up days, and I was a faithful viewer of her sitcom (and my kids are big Dori fans!). It’s horrible what she had to endure when she first came out, but her courage & perseverance (and, of course, sense of humor) has no doubt inspired and given strength to those fearful of coming out themselves. Her & Portia make such a cute couple and I’m so happy for them!

  3. Maya says:

    I respectfully disagree – being intelligent, caring and comfortable in your skin is the greatest thing you are Ellen.

    I love Ellen because she never attacks anyone on her show, she never promotes hateful things, she seems to be friends with almost all of Hollywood.

  4. Brunswickstoval says:

    This just makes me so angry that as an Australian we still do not have equal rights for gay marriage. It is such a divisive issue in this country when it just shouldn’t be.

    • Maya says:

      At least in Australia you have had a female prime minister.

    • LizLemonGotMarried says:

      It’s kind of surprising to me, considering how forward they are on other issues, even involving LGBTQ+ rights. They were the second country to give women the vote, but for some reason, can’t get past the marriage definition hurdle.
      Best of luck! Keep pushing! We will continue to fight Orange Julius over here, since he’s trying to drag our country back to the 1950s in all ways.

    • Honest B says:

      We’ll get there. It’s taking too long to get there, but we will.

    • Kath says:

      Agreed – as an Australian it is embarrassing AF. And it in no way reflect the opinions of the general population, who are overwhelmingly in favour of marriage equality. We are being held hostage by a small cabal of right-wing religious nutjobs in the so-called ‘Liberal’ (aka conservative) Party.

      Oh well, hopefully the High Court will rule against the postal plebiscite and the ever-increasing number of dual citizen LNP members in one fell swoop and we can have another election and get rid of these clowns.

  5. milla says:

    Cheers to many more decades of love and support!

  6. yyu says:

    Obviously cheated on her. Again.

  7. Lori says:

    Im glad she forgives them. I have the same attitude to the people who bullied me for all my teenage years. Ellen and Portia are adorable ❤️

  8. monkeeeeeyyy33 says:

    I think Ellen is verbally abusive towards Portia and parts of their relationship seemed forced to me. I believe they both feel a certain responsibility to portray their relationship as perfect because of all those anti-gay advocates wanting to use any “bad” gay relationship as proof that all gay relationships are inherently bad.

    Every piece of gossip I’ve read about Ellen is that she is an insufferable verbally abusive jerk to the people who work on her show and people who are jerks at work are usually equally big jerks at home.

  9. L84Tea says:

    Any time I see an article about Ellen and Portia I immediately pause and brace for impact because I’m always scared it’s going to be bad news. I love them as a couple so much and I’m always terrified they’re going to break up just because, you know, Hollywood.

  10. aenflex says:

    Yes, they are one of my favorite couples. Good for them.

  11. CareBear says:

    Some interesting comments on celebitchy today. Is this site now home to some alt right trolls I wonder…

    Deliberate incendiary remarks about a gay political agenda on Ellen’s part…interesting.

  12. jferber says:

    I disagree that verbally abusive at work means verbally abusive at home. OJ Simpson was a sheer delight to all his co-workers (the nicest guy ever) and a criminal abuser/butcher at home. I don’t know that there is a correlation. Also, define “verbally abusive” at work for a woman. Sometimes a woman just taking charge or being brusque/direct qualifies her as a bitch or verbal abuser. If a woman isn’t “nice” and smiling, she’s fair game for this type of maligning. I’m not saying Ellen is or isn’t verbally abusive at work (I have no idea), but I’m just saying there is a double standard for men and women.

  13. monkeeeeeyyy33 says:

    Incendiary?

    Tea on ellen has been for a long while that she is an abusive alcoholic jerk to everyone. I believe it and believe that many people in dysfunctional relationships who happen to be gay feel it necessary to portray their relationship as perfect because otherwise homophobes use it as an excuse to ban all gay relationships.

    I think this relationship is as fake as most Hollywood ones. Hardly an alt right troll view.

    I wish people looked at other long term gay couples for inspiration than those found in Hollywood.

  14. ichsi says:

    Whut? Did I miss something? Didn’t they recently announce their divorce? I’m confused now.

  15. Suzanne says:

    Call me a skeptic….but I get the sense that Portia saw the gravy train and hopped on board…holding on for dear life. She’s living the high-life…and perhaps the lies goes with it. None of us know what goes on behind closed doors but I certainly won’t be surprised if it blows up in the next few years. They are knocking on the door of losing their youth…and there’s nothing less appealing than and old drunk…(man or woman) if indeed Ellen is hitting the bottle. She does seem to have a sadistic sense of humor…but that doesn’t mean she’s a holy terror to live or work with. I need more proof of her bad behavior before making my final call.

  16. Jane Grace says:

    They must be doing something right. They are celebrating their ninth anniversary..which I want to say, congratulations and many more!!

  17. elle says:

    Portia is unrecognizable. At first I thought it was the actress from Modern Family, whose name is escaping me at the moment.