Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. News

Ellen DeGeneres brings her first stand-up special in 15 years to Netflix

By

Ellen DeGeneres will be bringing her high-energy comedy stylings to Netflix with a stand-up special — her first in 15 years.

The comedian confirmed the news via a cute Twitter exchange with the streaming service. “Looks like it’s been 15 years since you did a stand-up special,” Netflix wrote to DeGeneres’ official account. “How about one for Netflix?” DeGeneres jokingly replied with a “Let me think about it,” followed by “OK, I’m in.”

Recommended Videos

DeGeneres has become a household name thanks to her role as host of the popular daytime Emmy award-winning talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, being the voice of Dory in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, and, of course, who can forget that infamous Oscar selfie? But many forget that before she made it big on the small screen, DeGeneres was a successful stand-up comedian.

She started back in the early 1980s, even appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1986. She made headlines in the late 1990s when she came out publicly as a lesbian and made her character on the TV sitcom Ellen do the same. This made DeGeneres the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character on TV.

DeGeneres’ last stand-up specials were Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning and Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now, which aired on HBO in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Dubbed a comeback of sorts for the comedian following the media frenzy about her sexuality and cancellation of Ellen, DeGeneres was brought to tears by the audience reception in The Beginning.

Among her many accolades, DeGeneres has won 20 People’s Choice Awards-more than any other person-and in 2016, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

DeGeneres joins a growing list of comedians who have launched, or plan to launch, stand-up comedy specials on Netflix, including Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari, Kevin James, Tracy Morgan, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, and Louis C.K.

No details were confirmed about the special, nor when it will be streaming.

Topics
Christine Persaud
Christine Persaud
Contributor
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…

Editors’ Recommendations

7 best action movies of the 2020s, ranked
Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.

As the halfway point of 2025 approaches, it's become clear that the 2020s have been a great decade for action movies. The genre is very popular among the various streamers, but it's also still the top draw at the box office. Almost all of the major hits from the last half decade have incorporated action into the story in some way. It's just what people want to see on the big screen.

It was surprisingly easy to pick the No. 1 film on our list of the seven best action movies of the 2020s. But there may soon be another contender for the throne. And if the second half of the decade produces action flicks that are as good as the movies of the last five years, then this list will look very different in 2029.

Read more
F1: The new footage of Brad Pitt behind the wheel looks incredible
Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and other drivers line up and stare in F1.

Director Joseph Kosinski set out to make the most authentic racing movie ever made with F1. Judging by the new footage with Brad Pitt behind the wheel, Kosinski might have achieved his goal.

Apple Original Films released the main trailer for F1, the upcoming sports drama from the filmmaker behind Top Gun: Maverick. Sonny Hayes (Pitt) is a driver looking for redemption after a career-altering accident in the 1990s nearly cost him his career. Hayes never lived up to his talent and became known as "the greatest that never was."

Read more
What is DirecTV: plans, pricing, channels, and more
DirecTV hero, May 2025.

DirecTV has been around for a long time, and now you can get the channels you want without a pesky satellite dish. The company's streaming product, once called AT&T TV and then DirecTV Stream, is now simply DirecTV. While it may not be the most popular streaming service, it's worth checking out. It provides access to live TV and an on-demand library like Hulu Plus Live TV or YouTube TV. Although it tends to be a bit pricier, you receive plenty in return.

We've got the details for you here.
Tell me about DirecTV's streaming service
DirecTV Stream has undergone another rebranding and is now known as DirecTV (yes, it's confusing, see below). This change reflects the company's focus on streaming as its primary service. Existing DirecTV Stream customers should not experience immediate changes to their service or packages. New customers will find all streaming options under the DirecTV brand.

Read more