Ellen DeGeneres insists she’s ‘proud’ of who she’s become following her toxic workplace scandal in her final Netflix comedy special before ‘retiring’

Ellen DeGeneres’ final comedy special, For Your Approval, debuted on Netflix on Tuesday, marking her final foray into public life as a celebrity.

The 66-year-old said during a stand-up comedy performance in July: “After my Netflix special, I’m done.”

The special comes just over two years after her Ellen show went off the air, and four years after the show was accused of being toxic and she was labeled “mean.”

The comedienne emphasizes in the special that she is ‘proud’ of who she has become after the scandal.

“When you’re a public figure, you’re open to everyone’s interpretation. And I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, ‘What other people think of me is none of my business,'” Ellen said.

The comedian emphasizes in the special that she is ‘proud’ of who she has become after the scandal

“Because people will say whatever they want and you have no control over that. But you know the truth and that’s all that matters,” she added.

DeGeneres admitted that throughout her career she felt compelled to “report what people were thinking” as a way to measure her success.

“If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t like you, you’re out. And I’ve spent my whole life trying to make people happy and I’ve worried way too much about what other people think of me,” she said.

“So, the idea that someone would think I was mean was devastating to me, and it bothered me for a long time. After a lifetime of worrying, I just can’t do it anymore. So I don’t,” she said.

“But if I’m being honest… and I have a choice between people remembering me as someone who was mean or someone who was loved. Be-loved? Beloved? Beloved. Someone who is loved? I choose that,” she said.

She added that over the years she has gained “perspective” and now that she is retiring, she is, “‘Luckily, I’m not a boss, a brand or a billboard, I’m just a person.’

“I became this one-dimensional character who gave things away and danced on the steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance on the steps? Would a mean person dance on the steps?” she said.

She closed each episode with, “Be kind to each other,” and joked in her special, “If I had ended my show saying, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised,” referring to the toxic workplace and the “nasty” accusations.

“Because people will say whatever they want and you have no control over it. But you know the truth and that’s all that matters,” she added

DeGeneres admitted that throughout her career she was forced to “worry about what people think” as a way to measure her success

“If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t like you, you’re out. And I’ve spent my whole life trying to make people happy and I’ve worried way too much about what other people think of me,” she said.

She added that over the years she has gained “perspective” and that now that she is retiring, she is “happy that she is not a boss, a brand or a billboard, she is just a person.”

“They end up throwing me out for the third time because I’m mean, old and gay,” she joked.

She also joked about some of the allegations, revealing that she had started a game of tag with her staff in 2016.

‘I started playing tag in 2016. I would like to [employees] “I scared them all over the studio because I enjoyed doing that,” she admitted.

“You know, when I hear myself say this out loud… I was chasing my employees and terrorizing them… I imagine that could be misinterpreted,” she said.