Ellen DeGeneres Show

Pete Davidson wants things to be permanent with Kim Kardashian -- no matter how things turn out in the end -- he's gotten her name BRANDED on his chest ... not just tattooed.

Kim is set to appear on Ellen Wednesday, and in a preview clip, she and the talk show host talked about Pete's ink. It was over the weekend when some eagle-eyed fans noticed what they thought was a "Kim" tattoo on Pete's chest.

Turns out, Pete went above and beyond ... actually getting Kim's name branded with a hot iron on his body. Kim says Pete chose to make it permanent "like a scar" so he couldn't ever have it removed like regular tattoos.

Not only that, Kim also revealed Pete's got two other tributes to her on his body ... including one tattoo that reads, "My girl is a lawyer."

The gesture may seem dramatic, but Pete's got a lot of tats, and uses them to express things happening throughout his life ... so tributes to Kim make sense.

Of course, things have really heated up between the couple since we first saw them together last year ... and just this weekend, Pete stood up to Kanye, calling Kim a great mom and asking Kanye to meet face-to-face and talk about settling their beef.

Ellen DeGeneres is following in Dian Fossey’s footsteps ... especially now that her section of a gorilla sanctuary is open to the masses.

The talk show host has her own campus in Fossey’s Gorilla Fund in Rwanda -- a massive area dedicated to the protection of gorillas there — and on Tuesday, Ellen’s wing of the sprawling grounds got an official grand opening that’s been years in the making.

Portia de Rossi gifted Ellen with a gorilla fund in her name -- which was incorporated into Fossey’s larger org -- 4 years ago to celebrate her wife’s 60th birthday, and after a lot of work and construction ... the place is finally available to guests.

The whole purpose of the fund is to help gorillas survive poachers and other deforestation activities that might otherwise wipe out their species entirely, and lo and behold ... it’s been doing its job by keeping these apes going strong for decades now, with hundreds of gorillas thriving thanks, in large part, to Fossey’s conservationist efforts.

Ellen’s too, for that matter -- her campus is said to be a game-changer with cutting-edge tech and resources.

Covering several acres, the campus has state-of-the-art lab facilities and hundreds of thousands of native plants. There’s also custom-designed furniture the gorillas can use as they spread out and make use of the new environment. Gorillas like lounging too, bro!

Ellen seems stoked about her campus seeing the light of day, saying ... “To see my name alongside hers on the walls of this beautiful campus, and to know I'm doing my part to protect endangered gorillas and continue Dian's legacy, is simply amazing.”

Meghan Markle got in on a tried-and-true skit that has become a staple on 'Ellen,' but this one did not land well on social media.

The Duchess of Sussex walked out onto the studio lot with an earpiece that allowed Ellen to give her prompts ... like touching her nose and doing a squat. She went to a couple of vendors on the lot, one of whom was hawking hot sauce. She referred to herself as "mommy" and Harry as her "Boo." She also jumped up and down on cue. Stuff like that.

Well, MM's getting dragged ... with one writer saying she never understood the difference between being a Royal and being a celebrity. Others called it cheesy and insincere ... trying to look like a woman of the people. Not necessarily a fair criticism, but welcome to 2021.

Meghan also made her case for federal paid family leave ... something she's lobbied for by calling various U.S. senators.

As for the mommy comments, she told the vendor "Let mommy have a taste ... My boo loves hot sauce." Then, she pulled out a baby bottle and exclaimed, "Mommy needs some milk."

Ellen DeGeneres just expanded her real estate portfolio ... scooping up a home in Beverly Hills.

Our real estate sources tell us the talk show host dropped a cool $8.5 million for the 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom home.

The place is 4,614 square feet and it looks like a fixer-upper. Real talk ... the home looks dated. It was built way back in 1961 and has been through at least one renovation.

Ellen closed escrow on the place Friday. It's got a pool, fire pit, chef's kitchen and lush gardens. Some of the rooms are even heated by furnaces.

She'll have some famous neighbors ... among them, Adele and Cameron Diaz.

It's the second home purchase in as many months for Ellen ... as we reported, she threw down $2.9 million back in June for a 2-bedroom pad in Santa Barbara.

Ellen's pretty familiar with Bev Hills real estate ... she recently sold a 2-story monster of a property she bought from Adam Levine.

Ellen DeGeneres is never one to spare any expense for glitzy properties ... which makes this $2.9 million buy all that more interesting.

The talk show host just copped this modest yet modern Santa Barbara bungalow ... a stone's throw from the coveted Montecito Butterfly Beach and the famous Biltmore Hotel.

It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom contemporary jewel with huge glass doors that open up to lush landscaping. There's a cool water feature and fire pit on the sun-drenched patios.

There's also enough room for a pool or even a guest house. Either way ... privacy reigns thanks to fortification in the form of noise-reducing acoustic fencing.

The single-level home was built in 1954 and it's gone through several renovations. It's probable Ellen's buying this as an investment property.

The search for Ellen's successor didn't take long, and doesn't come as much of a surprise ... "The Kelly Clarkson Show" will take over the slot currently held by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" after her 19th season concludes.

NBC made the announcement that Clarkson's show -- currently in its second season and airing in all of the network's markets -- is expected to replace Ellen's by Fall 2022.

As we first told you ... Kelly had been penciled in as the front-runner for Ellen's coveted, syndicated hour of television pretty much since her talk show launched in Fall 2019.

The show debuted to huge ratings, and with NBC honchos predicting DeGeneres would pull the plug on her show eventually ... Clarkson seemed like the perfect successor.

Problem is, Kelly's show's ratings dipped big time during the pandemic -- as did a lot of other daytime programs -- so there was some uncertainty if NBC would still go with her, or opt for someone new ... like, perhaps, Tiffany Haddish.

Clearly, the network wanted to eliminate all doubt by crowning Kelly.

The clock is now ticking for NBC to choose the successor to Ellen DeGeneres' coveted time slot, and although they have a star in their pocket, a lot has to go right to make it work.

Sources at the network tell us -- long before COVID -- NBC honchos launched the Kelly Clarkson Show as the heir apparent to Ellen's syndicated hour. They knew back then Ellen was probably going to pull the plug on the show, and Kelly seemed like a likely successor.

The thing is ... Kelly's show struggled during COVID. Producing the show with guests joining remotely was challenging and the ratings slumped -- but that was the case with most shows through the pandemic. We're told a lot depends on the next few months ... whether the show experiences a surge in popularity as production comes back full force.

If that doesn't happen, NBC may well look beyond its current lineup to find a replacement, and a name that's been bandied about is one Tiffany Haddish. There are many reasons why Tiffany's name has bubbled up to the surface ... one of which is that she has guest-hosted for Ellen with considerable success.

The fact is ... Tiffany would probably kill in the timeslot, but we did some checking and no one in her camp is willing to say if she would even entertain the idea of doing a Monday-thru-Friday talk show, which is a real grind.

If she were interested, given the unbelievable number of projects Tiffany has, it would take the contents of a bank vault to seal the deal.

Ellen DeGeneres denies speculation she's stepping away from her show after 19 seasons because of allegations of a toxic workplace ... and she even suggests there was a coordinated effort to take her down.

Ellen sat down with "Today" host Savannah Guthrie to address last year's claims of a toxic culture at her talk show -- which led to the firings of 3 producers -- saying she was devastated by it and still doesn't understand it.

She tells Savannah it's not the reason she's calling it quits after this season though, and says she's a kind person who enjoys making people happy ... and insists she truly didn't know anything about a harmful work environment until she heard it from the media.

In fact, Ellen goes as far as to imply the allegations against her were "too orchestrated" and "too coordinated" ... and doesn't really buy into the notion she should have known there was something wrong among her employees.

She does say she wishes someone would have clued her in though ... so she could have put a stop to it sooner.

As we reported ... Ellen delivered an emotional monologue to her audience Wednesday, saying instincts told her it's time to go, and she always knew in her heart the upcoming 19th season would be her last.

Ellen DeGeneres says she knew deep down it was time to step away from her talk show after 19 seasons on the air ... and she's thankful for one helluva ride.

Ellen got emotional Wednesday as she taped the Thursday episode of her talk show, talking about her big news -- that she's wrapping it up in 2022 -- and explaining, for the first time, what led to her decision.

She said she always knew in her heart the upcoming 19th season would be her last, and she's trusting her instincts as she prepares to walk away. Ellen got a little emotional during the monologue, but, of course, kept it funny too.

Ellen says 19 is a good number to go out on ... pointing out the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, and making a joke about the periodic table and conversations with herself and her wife, Portia de Rossi.

As a comedian, Ellen says she's always understood the importance of timing ... and the timing is right for her to end what she calls an "amazing chapter" in her life.

She'll get to discuss it even more with Thursday's guests ... Oprah and Pink.

Ellen DeGeneres is about to hit the end of the road with her talk show -- the upcoming 19th season will be her last, TMZ has confirmed.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Ellen will make the announcement during a Wednesday taping. We're told when Ellen renewed her contract through 2022, she felt that would be the right time to end it, and it wasn't a secret to people close to her that she was walking away.

We're told Ellen's plans are NOT to retire. She'll take some time off to decide what's next. She recently signed a multi-year deal with Discovery ... on top of shows on NBC ('Game of Games,' 'Family Game Fight'), FOX ('Masked Singer') and HBO ('Ellen's Next Great Designer' and the upcoming Tig Notaro animated comedy special).

As for what her final season will entail ... we're told it'll be a huge celebration with tons of surprise guests. We're told Ellen's excited and looking forward to going out with a bang and focusing on ending the show on a strong note.

Ellen's planning to sit down with Oprah on May 13 to talk about the show's end.

As for why she's ending the show ... the comedian told The Hollywood Reporter, "When you're a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged -- and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore."

The news was not an abrupt decision. Ending the show had weighed on Ellen's mind since at least 2018. She told The New York Times her wife, Portia de Rossi, had implored her to call it a day. Ellen eventually signed on for 3 more seasons.

The show, which debuted in fall 2003, was philanthropic too -- reportedly making nearly $70 million in charitable donations and sinking more than $300 million into audience giveaways.

During her talk show run, Ellen earned the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2015 ... and Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

In 2019, former employees accused her of fostering a toxic work environment. In the wake of those allegations ... 3 of the show's executive producers were fired.

Ellen apologized to open her show last season saying, "I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that vey seriously. And, I want to say that I am so sorry to the people who were affected."

She added, "I know that I am in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility. I take responsibility for what happens at my show."

Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for coronavirus, but says, so far, she feels okay ... but she wants to give everyone she's been in close contact with a heads up.

The talk show host revealed her diagnosis Thursday morning and says she's following all the proper CDC guidelines. It sounds like she's going to be taking a break from work, because she adds ... "I'll see you again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe."

As for the guests she's had in studio in the last week -- Justin Bieber, Bryan Cranston, Diane Keaton, Alison Brie and Lil Nas X.

It's been a rough stretch for Ellen the past several months. We broke the story ... her Montecito mansion with Portia de Rossi was burglarized in July, which led to a serious security upgrade at the home.

Around the same time ... several ex-employees of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" alleged a toxic work environment, for which she later apologized.

Ellen DeGeneres says there's a pretty good reason she was hanging with George W. Bush at the Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday ... they're friends -- and she's damn proud of it!

Cameras captured Ellen and Dubya laughing together in Jerry Jones' owner's box at AT&T Stadium ... leaving some people wondering why "a gay Hollywood liberal [is] sitting next to a conservative Republican president?"

Ellen says she took a lot of heat on social media from people who were angry over the affiliation ... so she took to her show on Monday to explain herself.

"Here's the thing. I'm friends with George Bush," Ellen said.

"In fact, I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs that I have. We're all different. And, I think that we've forgotten that that's okay that we're all different."

Ellen DeGeneres' mom is responding to her daughter speaking out about being sexually assaulted by her stepfather as a teen ... saying she feels great sorrow.

As we reported ... Ellen revealed on David Letterman's Netflix show she was molested when she was 15 or 16 by a "very bad man" her mother, Betty DeGeneres, had married.

Betty's now revealing her own misgivings about the devastating incident. She told NBC's "Today" ... "I love my daughter, and I wish I had the capacity to listen to her when she told me what happened."

She added ... "I live with that regret, and I wouldn't want that for any other parent. If someone in your life has the courage to speak out, please believe them."

Would you pay more than $2,000 for Julian Edelman's discarded beard shavings?!?

That's the going rate for the NFL star's recently shorn facial follicles -- which Ellen DeGeneres famously shaved off earlier this month after the Patriots won the Super Bowl.

Ellen collected the trimmings off the floor of her show and donated them to CharityBuzz -- which is now hosting an online auction with the proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.

The opening bid was $1,000 ... but that was quickly surpassed and as of the time of this post, the leading bidder has offered up $2,100!!!!!

Think it's gross to buy someone's used beard?? Maybe ... but Edelman's face fuzz was a piece of Patriots history.

The WR rocked the scruff during his Super Bowl MVP performance in New England's SIXTH Lombardi Trophy-winning game.

Besides the cash raised from the auction, both Julian and Ellen donated $10,000 each to the Boys & Girls Clubs ... so, props to them!!!

The bigger issue ... what does the winning bidder do with the beard? Display them? Throw them away? Clone Edelman?

Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons took advantage of the NBA star's off day ... to spend some time all over each other on a romantic dinner date.

Bendall hit up Cipriani in New York City Thursday night. She was fully embracing him and kissing her boo's face as they snuggled up in a corner table.

As you know ... Kendall's been spending a lot of time with Ben lately, and even sat courtside with his mom at one of his Sixers games last month. They've been dating on and off since last May, or as Kendall put it to Ellen ... they've been official "for a bit now."

THE PLAYOFF BEARD IS GONE!!!

Julian Edelman parted with his legendary playoff face warmer this week -- and the person wielding the shears was none other than Ellen DeGeneres!

The New England Patriots superstar grabbed the Vince Lombardi Trophy and dropped by Ellen's show to talk about being named the MVP of the Super Bowl ... when things got a little hairy.

Ellen revealed a pop-up barbershop on her set, sat Jules in the chair and got her trim on ... and she actually did a pretty good job!

Edelman had been growing out the face fuzz as a thing pro athletes do in the playoffs -- and if you know anything about pro athletes, they're VERY into superstition.

In Edelman's case ... it worked (it also helped that his QB is Tom Brady).

Oh, also ... turns out Edelman's pretty good looking under all those whiskers.