Last week, One Million Moms decided Ellen DeGeneres was the perfect target for its new campaign. The conservative group has made its living protesting television networks for airing racy shows and corporations for excluding Christmas, but in what’s perhaps its most hateful goal of all-time, One Million Moms decided to try and get Ellen fired from her job as JC Penney’s spokeswoman.
Had she driven drunk or made some inflammatory statement, the group’s response may have been (somewhat) understandable, but Ellen’s only crime was being a lesbian. In a letter-writing and telephone blitz, the group contacted the retailer and demanded it pick a different voice more representative of traditional families. Thankfully, the company stuck by the fifty-four year old, but the protest has now been widened to include a boycott.
After almost a week of silence, Ellen finally addressed the controversy today, and she did so in her typical semi-serious, semi-light-hearted way. Here’s part of what she had to say on her show…
"They wanted to get me fired, and I'm proud and happy to say that JCPenney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson. Which is great news for me because I also need some new crew socks. I'm really going to clean up with this discount.”
It baffles me that anyone could not smile at a statement like that. After a group of bigots literally tried to get her fired, she still was able to see the humor in it and remain positive. Thankfully, today gave her extra reason to be in a good mood too. A federal appeals court upheld an earlier decision that shot down California’s hateful Proposition 8.
With any luck, this will be the last time Ellen will have to address One Million Moms.
