Here’s the video of Ellen telling her studio audience that she’s getting married. She joked “I’ll tell you who the lucky guy is soon.”

She got choked up, and said “If I’m this emotional now just saying it, I can’t imagine how that’s [getting married] going to be. It’s something that we’ve wanted to do, that we’ve wanted to be legal, and we’re just very very excited.”

Ellen’s partner Portia de Rossi is shown in the audience smiling and clapping. She looks like she’s crying a little too.

Ellen made the announcement yesterday after California made same sex marriage legal. The episode in which she broke the news to her studio audience airs today.

It did occur to me that they should get a prenup, which is a smart move for even the most stable couples. Ellen’s net worth is estimated at around $65 million. She has been with Portia since December, 2004.

Yesterday California’s supreme court overturned the ban on sex sex marriage, which makes it the second state after Massachusetts to allow same sex partners full marriage rights. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would uphold the decision by his state’s Supreme Court, having twice vetoed past bills by the Legislature legalizing same-sex marriage. His reasoning for rejecting the bills was a referendum in 2000 which banned gay marriage and was approved by 60% of California voters. Now Schwarzenegger says that he respects the court’s decision and will not overturn this ruling.

Same sex couples should be able to marry in a month or so, according to the Associated Press. Conservatives want to block the measure with an amedment to the state Constitution barring same-sex marriage, but Schwarzenegger has already stated that he would not support it and will abide by the court’s ruling.

Ellen Degeneres, 50, announced that she would marry her same sex partner of three and a half years, Australian actress Portia de Rossi, 35, as a result of the legalization of same sex marriage in their state. She is said to have told her studio audience in an episode to air today that they will make their union legal.

Both People and US Weekly quote Ellen’s interview with the Advocate, in which she called Portia her “perfect fit,” and said “She’s taught me lessons about myself, and I feel like I’ve taught her. We’ve both changed and grown, and we just feel like, ‘Oh, ok, this is completion.’”

Congratulations to Ellen and Portia and best wishes for a lifetime of happiness together.

Ellen and Portia are shown at the GLAAD media awards on 4/26/08, thanks to WENN.

Barbara Walters was on Ellen today, and the first part of the segment was interesting enough, but after the break she conducted the interview like one of her own, talking in her boring low-tone voice about her book and droning on about her life while Ellen sat there looking a bit uncomfortable. At one point Barbara made a reference to a section of the book that she seemed to know Ellen had not read yet and said something like “once you get past Fidel Castro…”

At the end of interview, Ellen tried to make a nice comment about Walters’ NY apartment, saying it was filled with photos of her with all the amazing people she’d interviewed. Ellen then said the book was fascinating, and Barbara concluded in a condescending way:

“Can I say that I love you whether you ever read my book or not. You’ve always been so good to me. I think you’re so cute.”

Ellen answered graciously “Well thank you, I have read it, and I love you too. Thank you so much.”

It just seemed rude and arrogant for Barbara to point out that Ellen hadn’t read the book yet, as if she has to read the entire book of every single author that comes on her show before she can conduct an interview. It was like she was establishing that she’s the seasoned interviewer and Ellen needed to be taken to task for not doing enough preparation. Ellen couldn’t get a word in edgewise anyway.

Maybe Barbara reads every book of every one of her interview subjects cover to cover, but Ellen has less time to prepare and she has to interview handfuls of people every week. She has a different type of show which usually relies on humor and jokes to keep it fun, something that Barbara was almost completely unable to adapt to.

Barbara Walter’s autobiography, Audition, has been out for a week and is now number one on the USA Today bestseller’s list.

Header image is from 5/13/08, thanks to WENN.

Barbara Walters on Ellen, Part 1. Says she doesn’t know how to drive.

Barbara Walters on Ellen, Part 2, the “I love you whether you ever read my book” starts at around 4:30 in.

Hugh Laurie of fan favorite House was on Ellen yesterday. He said in his cute British accent that his family is visiting from England and that they’re traveling back and forth more to see him. He claimed he’s not quite ready to move them over and repeated the sentiment he’s shared before that he doesn’t trust his success and is waiting a little longer to be sure. Ellen said it’s been four years, and he quipped that he would wait ten because he’s such a pessimist. Laurie said his first year working on House he lived in a hotel and didn’t even unpack his suitcase.

On finding his dad’s Olympic gold medal in a sock drawer
Hugh: “My father was a phenomenally… modest man and he never told me. I found it by accident when I was a teenager… rummaging in a sock drawer. I can’t imagine was I was looking for in a sock drawer beyond socks. His stash perhaps - his stash of socks. I found it and I thought what the hell was this… He won a gold medal… for rowing.”

Ellen: “Had you seen him row before?”

Hugh: “I had seen him row… I remembered being in a boat going fishing with my father and mother and he was maneuvering the boat away from the jetty. I was a little bit doubtful, I was about 10 and I said to my mother ‘does he know how to row?’

You would have thought that would be a pretty good moment to drop it into the conversation that he was a world champion, but no it didn’t come up for another 10 years… it’s a bit mad actually.”

Ellen: “He probably just by himself looked at it all the time”

Hugh: “I like to think that he had a moment. He communed with it now and then. He put it on and [gets embarassed] yeah, that didn’t make any sense.”

Ellen [laughs]: “I’d like to know where you’re going with that, but I’m frightened so I will not.”

Hugh said he rowed as a sport until his early 20s, but he didn’t like facing the wrong way and that he “wanted to face forwards in life.” He joked that it was poetic of him to say that.

On a prop person freaking out about all the fake pills he’s taking on House
Ellen asked him what he’s taking on the show when his character has pills “because you’re swallowing something constantly.”

Lauried quipped “I honestly don’t know. I think it’s something to stop me from complaining. They told me at the beginning it’s some sort of lactose or lactase… whatever the word is. Then one of the prop men said ‘Oh my God, you’re not just swallowing those are you?’ and I said ‘Yes I am. I’ve probably swallowed about 400 of them in the last 3 months.’”

Then Hugh said the prop guy backtracked and said “‘Nothing! Oh you’re fine.’

But I seem to be alright.”

Ellen: “You’re swallowing a lot of things…”

Hugh: “I am a swallower.” [audience cheers]

I tried to figure out if you can OD on lactase, and there’s not much about it online. I think the worst that could happen is you might lose your natural ability to make the enzyme yourself and have difficulty digesting milk products without it.

Hugh and Ellen challenge each other with slang
After the break they played a game where Hugh and Ellen challenged each other with slang from their respective countries. Ellen’s didn’t seem fair to me, because I’m an American and I had no clue what most of them meant. Her first term was “flossing” and Hugh guessed “something close fitting?”

She said it means showing off, which is news to me.

Hugh’s first word was “Chin wag.” Ellen said “a blundering idiot,” but Hugh said it’s a verb which means “literally, to chat.”

Then Ellen’s word was “ba-donka-donk,” which again I’ve never heard of. She said “it’s an extremely curvaceous female behind.” Hugh said “We definitely don’t have those in England… that’s a fantastic word.”

Hugh’s last phrase was “Chuffed to bits,” which Ellen thought mean “exhausted” but really means “pleased” and Hugh joked “I would be chuffed to bits by your ba-donka-donk.”

Ellen’s final word was “shawty,” which she tried to explain by signing lines of songs. Hugh had no idea and she said it’s a “young kid or a woman.” I thought that was “shorty.”

I love Hugh Laurie and it’s great to see him interviewed and hear that he’s able to see his family more. He was having a hard time for a while being apart from them and it sounds like things are going well for him now. He’s a very down to earth charming guy and an incredible actor. He definitely deserves all his success and more.

Here are the links to the videos, but I’m sorry to say the sound is not syncing right for me. I tried to clip this myself but it was painfully slow and there may be problems with the service.

Hugh Laurie on Ellen, 5/12/08, Part 1
Hugh Laurie on Ellen, 5/12/08, Part 2

Hugh Laurie is shown at the PRISM Awards on 4/24/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Diddy was on Ellen today and she set up a taste test for the mogul in honor of Cinco de Mayo. (Video below) Diddy has developed his own vodka for Cîroc and receives half of the profits. He said in a press conference that his partnership with Cîroc came after a year of negotiations and that he “wanted to build a brand that represents the art of celebration.” He said vodka is his drink of choice and that he wants to stand behind his brands.

Diddy explained to Ellen that he wants a smooth drink and you want to “preserve your sexy” and that’s why he’s a vodka fan. Ellen put out a taste test with four shots of vodka for each of them with the bottles covered by boxes. Only one of the four was Diddy’s vodka. He realized quickly that his vodka wasn’t the first one, because he made a face when he did the shot. The second two vodkas were hard to tell apart, and he faked like he was getting drunker after each shot. Ellen played it cool and looked amused. He joked with Ellen that her shots must contain water. When he got to the last shot he spit out the vodka, and quickly realized it wasn’t his. It came down to picking which of the middle two shots was his brand and he got it right! He picked his own brand over Ketel One, which he said was also pretty smooth. The first vodka was Absolut and the last was Popov or another cheap brand.

The whole exchange was pretty fun and although Diddy is known for being arrogant, combative and a player he definitely is talented at representing a product.

Cîroc vodka is superior according to Diddy and is not more expensive than its competitors. Cîroc runs at around $30 per 750 ml bottle while Ketel One is only slightly cheaper. Flavored versions of Absolut are similarly priced. I would buy Diddy’s vodka at least once after seeing this video. The man does his job well.

Here’s the video, thanks to rockers94 on Redlasso:

Diddy is also starting a chauffeur service for drunken celebrities, and it sounds like he wants to get them coming and going if he has a vodka brand too.

Here’s Diddy getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Ashlee Simpson has her story and she’s sticking to it: People have been saying she’s pregnant for a while, she think it’s personal and she’s not going to address the rumors. She’s basically begging us: “Please keep talking about me and speculating as if you care about the state of my womb. And buy my new album, thanks!”

Ashlee brought her goofy laugh and lousy singing voice to the Ellen Degeneres show yesterday. She said she had an “inseparable relationship” with Pete Wentz, who she referred to as her fiance. She said she cries when she’s apart from him. Ashlee also mentioned that she has “clip on” hair when Ellen asked.

When Ellen asked “Are you or are you not pregnant?” she answered:

“That has been going on [the pregnancy rumors] for quite a while, but that is definitely something that I chose personally not to discuss. Except for the fact maybe, do I look like I had 10 cheeseburgers or something? (stands up briefly) because I don’t think I do.”

Ellen made her promise that she would tell people she was pregnant before J.Lo did, and she pinky swore to do that.

Then Ashlee told a stupid story about how a monkey at a Costa Rican resort stole her designer stuff, name dropping all the labels the crafty primate took.

She also talked about how she worked until 4:00 in the morning with Timbaland.

Ellen busted out asking “Is it a boy or a girl” and Ashlee just laughed again. After Ashlee’s performance, Ellen put her hand on her stomach jokingly.

Here are the videos.
Clip where Ashlee avoids pregnancy question:

Full interview:

Ashlee Simpson performs “Little Miss Obsessive”

Ashlee Simpson is shown at the Conde Nast Traveler Hot List Party on 4/17/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Ryan Phillippe played the first gay teenager on television in his first acting role on the soap opera One Life To Live in 1992. He talked to Ellen Degeneres today and told her in an interview that he got discovered as a teen in a barber shop by a casting agent who asked him if he wanted to get into modeling. He did some modeling work and commercials before landing his role on the show.

Ryan Phillippe on “One Life To Live in the early 90s

Ellen asked Ryan if his people advised him against taking the controversial role and he said “you know, I had no people… no one stopped me.”

Ellen said that was a good thing because he probably made a difference in a lot of people’s lives.

On gay teens telling him he saved them from suicide
Ryan said “I wasn’t really aware at the time, I was 17 years old myself, but I remember getting fan mail and since it was my first big job - that’s exciting, getting fan mail… Some of them were pretty moving. There was one or two who said ‘you know, I was contemplating suicide and I saw a representation of who I was on television for the first time… and it made me feel good about myself…’ those things were pretty moving.”

On his kids
Ellen: “What do you do with them? Where do you hang out?”

“You can check the pages of most magazines and find out unfortunately. I take them snowboarding, we go to the beach, I’m teaching them how to skateboard, my daughter just learned to ride a bike. That kind of fun, fatherly stuff. We’ll watch Nancy Drew or Hannah Montana or something. All suitable stuff for a 33 year old guy.”

Ryan then talked about his film Stop Loss, which is out in US theaters this Friday. He said we need to stop the practice of the backdoor draft in which soldiers are called back to service after their tours of duty are completed, which is what Stop Loss refers to.

I’ve seen a lot of celebrity interviews and rarely are the celebrities as candid and quotable as Ryan Phillippe. This guy has really grown on me over the past couple of weeks when he’s been doing press for this film. He comes off as down to earth, open and matter of fact, but guarded enough to keep some things private, like his relationship with Abbie Cornish.

Ryan has been slightly struggling with his career and hasn’t reached the level of success of his Oscar-winning ex wife, but I see a lot of good roles in his future after this. He seems like a real stand up guy and a solid actor. Plus he’s a dreamboat, who am I kidding?

Here’s the video of Ryan on Ellen, thanks to clipper lindsey on Redlasso.

Ellen also showed this photo from Ryan’s high school year book.

I love Ellen Degeneres– she makes me laugh daily on her talk show, and occasionally she makes me think. And that is not an easy thing to do at 9 o’clock in the morning.

This morning, Ellen played a taped recording of Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern speaking at an event. In her speech, Ms. Kern, who is leading a charge to ban tolerance of homosexuality in public schools, stated that homosexuality is “more dangerous to this country than terrorism or Islam,” and that “studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades.” Ellen looked stunned, as did her studio audience. Ellen then decided to call Rep. Sally Kern, to “inform her.” “I’m really interested in hearing about these societies that have disappeared that we don’t know about,” Ellen quipped while dialing. When she got through the line, she got a voice mail greeting saying that Sally Kern’s inbox was full and nobody could leave anymore messages. The studio audience laughed big time at that. So Ellen decided to leave her a message on the show, “Just in case Sally is watching.” Here’s what she said:

Hi, Sally, this is Ellen. The gay one. And I would like to leave a message. I just want to talk to you based on some things you said. I’d like to clear some things up for you. So give me a call– I’m usually here, but later on I’ll be at the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, of course. That’s if it doesn’t conflict with the women’s basketball games I go to. Oh, Sally, Sally Sally.”

[Transcribed from Ellen’s show, broadcast March 12, 2008]

You can listen to Sally Kern’s full speech on youtube. I am still wondering how a person like this can get elected to represent anything, but then again, I live in a more progressive area of the country and keep forgetting that there are areas of the country that may not feel the same.

You can visit Rep. Sally Kern’s webpage. Her office’s phone number is listed on the page, but since her inbox is probably full of messages telling her to STFU, you should probably e-mail her. I did.

Ellen Degeneres is launching a range of organic dog food, and you can eat it too!

She tells Parade magazine, “Ours (range) is all human grade. It’s all natural. And yes, you can eat it.”

“People love their animals so much so that they put little clothes on them and necklaces and booties and things like that. And if you love your animal, then you should feed them something that’s not dangerous for them. There’s a lot of poisonous stuff that they’re putting in a lot of that food, those by-products.”

KeyeTV

I don’t think that Ellen is actually suggesting that you should eat the food, just that you can if you want to. Or if you are ever caught in an emergency, like flooding or an earthquake, it’s good to know that it is safe to eat.

This follows Ellen’s previous issues with her adopted dog Iggy, where Ellen and partner Portia DeRossi adopted the dog and then gave it away, violating their agreement with the agency they took the dog from. Ellen cried about the new family losing custody of the pooch Iggy on her show, and got a huge amount of coverage for situation. Buying and promoting a dog food brand after that publicity is a great business move.

I might also suggest that it is a very subtle ‘up yours’ to the Mutts and Moms dog adoption agency, since she’s now used her infamous love of dogs to make money, while they have only received bad publicity.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Ellen Degeneres and Portia DeRossi are shown at the Primetime Emmy Awards on 9/16/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

you can watch the video on the website for Ellen’s show
Ellen Degeneres was emotional and in tears on her talk show again– only this time, it was over a situation much more distressing than an adopted puppy.

Ellen spoke out on her show about the recent murder of a gay high school student. The boy was shot in the head by another student after he ask him to be his Valentine.

Ellen DeGeneres took a rare political stance – though she was careful to call it a personal stance, because, she said, “this is important to me” – on her show scheduled to air Friday, regarding the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King, shot in the head on Feb. 12 by a classmate in a suburban Oxnard, Calif., junior high school.

King was killed because he had asked another boy to be his Valentine, DeGeneres reminded her audience about the news story that sent shockwaves across the country.

As the 50-year-old show host, emphasized, “To be gay you can get killed for it … we need to change the message.”

Choking back tears, she added, “Larry is not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen. It is okay if you are gay.”

DeGeneres said the country must change the subtext of hatred aimed at certain groups as is found in jokes, movies, speeches and other elements of the culture. “All of it is unacceptable,” she said. “Laughing at someone because he’s gay is just the start of it.”

Noting that change is on the minds of people this political season, DeGeneres said, “We can do it with our behavior … Fight hate.”

[From People]

I can’t understand why anyone would feel the need to kill another human being because of their sexual orientation. It just makes no sense to me. I keep hoping that our society has evolved enough that this sort of behavior would be a thing of the past, but then another story like this comes out and proves me wrong. My heart goes out to Larry’s family. I can’t even imagine what they are going through.

You can see the video of Ellen talking about the incident here.

Note by Celebitchy: This made me tear up too. I love how Ellen says you should vote for someone who is going to treat us all equal.