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.”
Let me think about it. Ok I’m in. https://t.co/kUAdHyXAjS
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 24, 2017
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.
