Ellen DeDeneres tried to do the right thing – she went with partner Portia de Rossi to a pet rescue agency and adopted a dog. But when the pooch, a Brussels Griffon mix, didn’t make friends with her cats, Iggy wound up in the doghouse. Sorry, bad pun.

It seems that part of the dog adoption agreement is that you can’t hand the dog on to other owners. Ellen had passed her dog on to live with her hairdresser and two children aged 11 and 12, after spending $3,000 having the dog neutered and trained to be with her cats, although he must have been a slow learner. A representative from the Mutts and Moms agency came and collected the dog on Sunday night, prompting Ellen to address the issue on her show Tuesday.

“I guess I signed a piece of paper that says if I can’t keep Iggy, it goes back to the rescue organization, which is not someone’s home, which is not a family,” she said in a show transcript provided to The Associated Press.

“I thought I did a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn’t keep it.”

DeGeneres said her hairdresser’s daughters, ages 11 and 12, had bonded with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.

“Because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their home, and took it away from those kids,” a sobbing DeGeneres said on her show.

“I feel totally responsible for it and I’m so sorry. I’m begging them to give that dog back to that family. I just want the family to have their dog. It’s not their fault. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have given the dog away. Just please give the dog back to those little girls.”

AP

I suspect that Mutts and Moms isn’t your standard rescue shelter. While it is a non-profit organization, the AP reports it doesn’t have a listed number, and when I’ve gone to my local animal welfare there were no Brussels Griffons, mixed or otherwise. But then all my focus was on the kittens and horses.

Still, I have to agree it’s a pretty nasty thing to take a dog away from kids. Couldn’t you just come and check that the dog was in a good home? It seems heartless to just take it away from a loving family because it wasn’t placed there originally.

Note by Celebitchy: Here’s the video about this case, thanks to TMZ, which shows that the adoption agency is pretty vindictive and cruel. The owner of the agency claimed she was “just going to do a house check,” when she came by, but then left with the dog after calling the cops. It’s all pretty ridiculous and I hope this organization gets new management and backs down, apologizes and returns this dog to the little girl who loved him. Considering that a celebrity is involved, this is incredibly bad PR for them. This makes me so mad.

Update: Here’s Ellen crying before telling the story about how the evil adoption agency took away the dog. Thanks to TMZ.

Remember Ellen’s sitcom, back in the day? I don’t think a ton of people watched it before she came out, but I always thought it was funny. Before her current talk show, I always heard people saying they thought she was annoying, but now everyone seems to be in love with her (I’m no exception – listen to her old comedy CD, it’s hysterical). Ellen had Mariska Hargitay on her show this week, and wanted to show a clip of Hargitay guest starring on Ellen’s sitcom back in 1996 (though weirdly enough, the episode was taped in 1994 during the show’s first season). ABC gave Ellen a big old no, even though she worked for the network for years – and her show is still syndicated on many local ABC channels.

“Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has been refused access to clips from her own former sitcom. The comedienne asked ABC/Disney bosses to let her show a segment from her old program, which featured a guest appearance from actress Mariska Hargitay - and was told the footage was off limits.

“DeGeneres, who hit the headlines a decade ago when she ‘came out’ as a lesbian on the sitcom and in real life, was hoping to use the clip to show Hargitay when the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star made her debut on the Ellen show on Friday.

“‘She was a guest star on my original sitcom and it was a hilarious scene… I wanted to show it today… but Disney will not let me have any clips of my show to show, unless we pay a whole lot of money. It was my show… We’d be advertising it, it would help them.’”

[From Starpulse]

That would piss me off too. I’m kind of surprised Ellen even mentioned it, since she’s considered the real “Queen of Nice.” We forget that Rosie O’Donnell used to have that title, before the “View” and drawing horns on pictures of Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Ellen had Kathy Griffin on her show this week, and admitted that she originally didn’t watch Griffin’s show “My Life on the D List” because she thought it’d be too mean-spirited, but said she’d given it a viewing and enjoyed it. The contrast between the stars was interesting to watch.

“Ellen’s good-natured style of humor made for an interesting conflict with the sharp, pointed jabs Kathy is known for taking against celebrities, a difference the host brought up in the interview.

Ellen: “Do you feel bad? Do you feel like you could then go up — because I know all these people. So, for me — and I was also on the other end of it — I used to get… After I came out, I was the butt of everybody’s joke. So I know what it feels like to be talked about all the time.”

Kathy: “Not mine. Not mine. And that’s really — people say ‘Do you have lines? Do you have lines?’ [lines that you won’t cross] Yeah, I don’t make fun of people who have a sense of humor about themselves, I don’t make fun of people — honestly, what I do is I make fun of people who created a situation. I don’t say about Star Jones, ‘Uhm, she’s fat. Goodnight everybody!’ I say ‘I worked with her and my experience was she was a [censored].’ That’s my experience with her, we all know it. Don’t act like I’m the first one to say that … but, also, if you were puking all over in nightclubs or get out of the car without the panties that’s a different story because that’s something you’re controlling … and it’s fun. Honestly, I make fun of people’s behavior more than I make fun of how they look. And I’ve been that person too, I’ve had the nasty pictures and had the ‘worst dressed’ and all that too.”

[From After Elton]

After that, Ellen had a segment where she held up pictures of famous people and told Kathy she had to find a nice thing to say about each of them. Kathy made a few barbs instead (you could tell she was trying not to but couldn’t resist) and Ellen looks visibly pissed/annoyed and almost angry at her a few times. It’s kind of funny. Here’s a clip below.

Well the ever-so-fickle Academy has decided against asking Ellen DeGeneres, last year’s host, back again. Apparently there’s a different producer most every year, and the producer picks the host. So this year’s producer produced 2006’s Academy Awards and wants to go with 2006’s host, Jon Stewart. Stewart as given so-so reviews after his first hosting gig. DeGeneres was apparently considered “too nice” – though I didn’t realize the Academy Awards were supposed to be edgy.

“Jon Stewart will return as host of the Academy Awards. The star of Comedy Centrals ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ will get his second shot at hosting Hollywood’s premiere event, which will be held on Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. He hosted the 78th annual awards show in 2006.

“Stewart was ‘a terrific host’ for that event, Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates said Wednesday, announcing the selection in a statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The academy didn’t indicate why it decided to go with Stewart after using comedian Ellen DeGeneres this year. ‘I’m thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time’s a charm,’ Stewart joked.

[From the Associated Press]

I didn’t realize hosting the Oscars was such a revolving door situation. I know it’s considered kind of the “be all end all” for a lot of comedians, but I have yet to watch one that didn’t cure my chronic insomnia in 30 minutes flat. But that’s also the reason I haven’t watched one in a few years. I thought Jon Stewart’s humor didn’t really translate from his show to the Oscars. His political humor is funny, but there’s only so much room for it in an awards show format.

“Stewart, a political satirist, injected some political humor into his 2006 performance, taking jabs at the war in Iraq and ribbing Hollywood’s elite about their ties to the Democratic Party. However, some jokes bombed and he got mixed reviews. ‘His usually impeccable blend of puckishness and self-effacement fell flat,’ a review by The Associated Press said, adding he was ‘too deferential, too nice and too obvious in his targets.’

“The 44-year-old Stewart, who also hosted the Grammys in 2001 and 2002, noted the split decision on his own cable TV show the night after the Oscars, saying he had a great time but didn’t know how he did until he saw the reviews.

“‘I sucked and was great!’ he said. ‘I was a painfully smug and unfunny heir to Johnny Carson.’”

[From the Associated Press]

Does anyone else find Hollywood’s obsession with awards kind of annoying? Why is so much congratulation necessary? I guess it’s just the fact that they’re all awarding each other, like it’s some great accomplishment. I think it’s kind of the grown up children in us that want a blue ribbon for doing well at the science fair. Only the science fair involves a lot of low cut strapless dresses and cummerbunds. I don’t even want to tell you what’s in their juice boxes.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Jon Stewart at the Emmy Awards last year. Images thanks to PR Photos.

We know you were anxiously waiting for these pictures of your favorite soap stars and talkshow hosts at the Daytime Emmy awards last Friday. Highlights include Star Jones showing off her new boobs, Martha Stewart looking smug and polished, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi cute ‘n cuddly, Cady McClain of All My Children in a too-short babydoll dress, and Sean Young a typical mess.

Ellen DeGeneres remains everyone’s favorite talk show host and took home the award in that category for a second year in a row. Guilding Light also won big:

Here are pictures of the arrivals including:
Susan Lucci, Sean Young, Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres, Al Reynolds, Star Jones Reynolds, Ashley Jones, Barbara Walters, Bobbie Eakes, Corbin Bernsen, Amanda Pays, Lisa Rinna, Martha Stewart, Maria Conchita Alonso, Melody Thomas Scott, Tracey Bregman, Lorenzo Lamas, Hunter Tylo, Kristian Alfonso, Alec Musser, Antonio Sabato Jr., Anya Monzikova, Bobbie Eakes, Bree Williamson, Cady McClain, Crystal Chappell, Carroll Spinney with Oscar The Grouch, Davetta Sherwood, Bryton McClure, Michelle Ray Smith, Michael Graziadei, Rachael Ray, Schae Harrison, Seven and McKenzie Westmore, and Sherri Saum.