Ellen DeGeneres reveals she was bullied by Hollywood after coming out as a lesbian
Ellen DeGeneres has opened up about the bullying she endured after coming out as a lesbian.
The chat show host was a trailblazer in the 90s, revealing her sexuality to the world when it was still highly contentious in America.
In 1997 she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine and gave an interview to the Oprah Winfrey show, opening up about her sexuality.
The move left her without a sitcom and some religious groups began to protest outside their local ABC stations to take Ellen off air.
Ellen was no longer a rapidly rising comedian with a show on mainstream television.
The declaration of her sexuality left her kicked out of the entertainment elite, spending several years in the wilderness.
Now Ellen says it was Hollywood which bullied her the most.
“The bullying I endured [in Hollywood] after I came out made up for the lack of it during my childhood,” she told .
“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.”
Despite struggling for a number of years, Ellen is now one of the most famous people in the world.
“Anger and aggression weaken you, because they take so much energy to hold in place,” she said.
“But kindness is a strength [that] makes you more serene.”
Read the full story of Ellen’s coming out here.
