What Ellen DeGeneres Is Doing Now That Her Longtime Talk Show Has Ended
Passion project!
The Ellen DeGeneres Show just came to an end after 19 seasons, with a number of the host’s friends congratulating her on the achievement and many fans wondering what she’s going to be doing next. Ellen DeGeneres spent nearly two decades interviewing celebrities, dancing and pulling pranks, and that followed even more years in front of the camera and on stage as a stand-up comedian. However, it looks like her first big project following her talk show doesn’t have much to do with cameras — or even people — at all.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi are in Rwanda for the June 7 opening ceremony of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The talk show host has been fascinated by primatologist Dian Fossey since she was 12 years old, and her passion inspired De Rossi to help fund the DFGF’s new campus in honor of her wife’s 60th birthday four years ago. DeGeneres spoke with THR about the impact the campus has made already, even before its official opening:
The campus opened to the public in February of this year, offering immersive and educational experiences, such as watching gorillas in the 360-degree Irmelin DiCaprio Theater (an auction was held to name the buildings, with Leonardo DiCaprio purchasing the theater in his mother’s name, and a computer lab to be named after his father, George). Portia De Rossi said she was inspired by Ellen DeGeneres’ passion for Dian Fossey’s work, and thought it would be the perfect gift, both for the milestone birthday and post-show project:
Portia De Rossi seems to only have her wife’s happiness in mind, as her other hope for her spouse post-talk show was for her to start doing stand-up comedy again because she’s so good at it and it brings her joy.
The plans to spend more time in Africa once the show ended have been in the works for a while. In fact, in the same interview last May that Ellen DeGeneres announced the end of her talk show, she told THR that she was hoping to get more involved with her passion for animals and conservation:
The opening ceremony for her campus to help save Rwanda’s gorillas is certainly an exciting way for Ellen DeGeneres to kick off her post-talk show life, and likely a welcome break from a long career in front of the camera. Lots of fans still hope she doesn’t stay away from the camera for too long though. To see what shows are coming soon to TV and streaming, check out our 2022 TV schedule.
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Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.