Ellen DeGeneres admits being branded the 'most hated person in America' was a ... trends now

Ellen DeGeneres admitted that being branded the 'most hated person in America' was a huge blow to her ego - as she kicked off her comeback stand-up comedy tour in West Hollywood on Wednesday.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show went off the air in 2022 after 19 seasons on NBC following the toxic workplace scandal that tarnished her reputation as TV's favorite host.

In 2020, DeGeneres, 66, was accused by former Ellen show employees of fostering an environment that tolerated alleged bullying, racism and sexual harassment by execs and one in which she reigned supreme.

This prompted WarnerMedia to launch an investigation and Ellen insisted in a letter to staff that she was unaware of any toxicity behind-the-scenes.

She later branded it a 'coordinated misogynistic' attack on her and she has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since the talk show's finale aired on May 26, 2022.

Performing in front of a sold-out crowd at Club Largo on Wednesday, DeGeneres poked fun at her downfall as she recalled getting 'kicked out of show business' for being 'mean,' as per Rolling Stone.

'The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind,' she added, a direct nod to her iconic 'Be kind' mantra.

Ellen's Last Stand … Up Tour marks DeGeneres' first comedy tour since 2018 and she earned a 'roaring applause' at Wednesday's stand-up show. 

The comedian continued: 'There's no mean people in show business... I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps.

'Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, 'Go f**k yourself,' people would've been pleasantly surprised.'

She said that she 'didn't know how to be a boss' despite being the face of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, joking that she 'went to Charlie's Chuckle Hutt' not business school.

'The show was called Ellen and everybody was wearing T-shirts that said 'Ellen' and there were buildings on the Warner Brothers lot that said 'Ellen,' but I don't know that that meant I should be in charge,' she explained.

DeGeneres also reminded the audience that she's actually been 'kicked out of show business' twice in her decades-long career.

Back in 1998, her popular sitcom Ellen was abruptly canceled by ABC after she publicly came out as gay.

'For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I've been kicked out of show business,' she told the crowd, before quipping: 'Eventually they're going to kick me out for a third time because I'm mean, old, and gay.'

She confessed that her career lows have taken 'such a toll on my ego and my self-esteem.

'There's such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolize you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder.'

She elaborated on the 'hurt' she felt about how her talk show legacy ended in a Q&A that was held after Wednesday's set.

'It was so hurtful. I couldn't gain perspective. I couldn't do anything to make myself understand that it wasn't personal,' she explained.

'I just thought, 'Well this is not the way I wanted to end my career, but this is the way it's ending.' … I just hated the way the show ended.

'I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way.'

DeGeneres announced she would soon be embarking on a standup tour — which she revealed Wednesday will be taped for a Netflix special in the fall — earlier this month on Instagram.

At the time, only four performances in venues in both Oregon and Northern California were scheduled at the time.