Sofía Vergara insists she was ‘always in on the joke’ after damning video shows Ellen DeGeneres mocking her accent
Sofia Vergara has been a regular guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. (YouTube)
Sofía Vergara defended her friendship with the Ellen DeGeneres after a clip of the embattled daytime talk show host mocking the star’s accent and grasp of English resurfaced.
Including the controversial video footage with her tweet on Friday (21 August) , the Modern Family actor said: “Two comedians having fun with each other to entertain.
“I was never a victim guys, I was always in on the joke.”
Two comedians having fun with each other to entertain. I was never a victim guys, I was always in on the joke. https://t.co/mjUjPNRHlb— Sofia Vergara (@SofiaVergara) August 21, 2020
Sofía Vergara says she’s ‘not the victim’ after fans accuse host of racism.
Vergara has been a regular guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show over the years, and a 30-second edit showcased how many of her appearances have had one thing in common: DeGeneres making fun of her Colombian accent.
The supercut appeared to stem back to 2010, when Vergara stopped by Ellen to discuss her sitcom, Modern Family, only for the comedian to grill her on her speech.
“I shouldn’t judge because I think it would be hard to learn a new language entirely… but can you get rid of the accent?” DeGeneres asked.
Vergara laughed while explaining that although she had at that point lived in America for 16 years, she thought her accent was “getting worse”, setting up a long-running joke between the two.
Across various segments, DeGeneres repeatedly offered to teach the Colombian-American actor “an English word of the day” and, in general, teased her about her accent and English-speaking skills.
Opinions quickly splintered online, with some finding the television personality’s tone patronising and deemed it racist.
Others believed that she was in on the joke, seemingly confirmed by Vergara herself, who sought to reel in accusations shot against DeGeneres.
Scores of celebrities come out in defence of Ellen DeGeneres.
Social media users, with ever-increasing urgency, have taken to scouring DeGeneres’ back catalogue of interviews to scrutinise the 62-year-old, who has been pelted by claims that her sunny façade is nothing more than an act, former staffers, audience members and show guests have alleged.
Accusations of a workplace where bullying and discrimination are rampant, as well as rank-and-file employees alleging that intimidation and racism are common tactics used by senior-level producers. The touchstone came when WarnerBros announced it launched an investigation into the show.
Ellen DeGeneres. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Vergara is the latest high-profile celebrity to try to tamper the criticism facing DeGeneres. Scooter Braun, Katy Perry and Diane Keaton have all taken to social media to rebuke claims that DeGeneres is “mean“.
Kevin Hart leapt to her defence in an Instagram post. “It’s crazy to see my friend go thru [sic] what she’s going thru [sic] publicly,” he wrote.
“I have known Ellen for years and I can honestly say that she’s one of the dopest people on the f**king planet. She has treated my family and my team with love and respect from day one.”
He returned to the social network to complain about the “roar of frustration” he received for standing by his “friend in trouble”.
“I’m a friend… if I have a friend in trouble ever I’m a do my best to be there for that friend,” he said.
