Ellen DeGeneres Has POTUS-Level Security at Stand Up Show to Ensure No Phones, Recordings

Ellen DeGeneres has a team of security that rivals that of the President of the United States, a showgoer at Ellen’s Last Stand…Up show at Radio City Music Hall tells Closer exclusively.

“The staff was militant at locking away phones and Bluetooth headphones so there could be no recording during the show,” the insider said about Ellen’s August 1 performance. “My friend who works in Washington, D.C. said he doesn’t see that level of security for POTUS.”

Fortunately, Ellen, 66, received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd. She’s currently on her stand-up comedy tour where the former talk show host is getting very real about how her downfall as the Queen of Nice affected her life.

The Louisiana native joked about how she used to end her daytime talk show by telling her audience, “Be kind to one nother” so it was a shock when it was revealed she wasn’t as sweet and perky as she appeared on TV. “Had I ended my show by saying ‘go f–k yourselves,’ people would have been pleasantly surprised I’m kind,” Ellen laughed.

“What else can I tell you? Oh, yeah. I got kicked out of show business because I’m mean. You can’t be mean and be in show business. Look it up. No mean people in show business. Yeah. You heard? I was mean. Everybody heard. I was mean. I know that everywhere I go, everyone has heard that. I’m mean, I know when I walk into a restaurant people are watching and waiting to see if I’ll be mean. ‘Do you think she’ll be mean first and then dance?’” Ellen pondered.

The former sitcom star rode a wave of goodwill beginning with her cheery daytime talk show’s premiere in 2003. Over the years, it became the go-to stop for celebrities to come on and dish their personal stories as Ellen was a close friend to many.

The host was also generous with her audience, doing massive giveaways including her “12 Days of Christmas giveaways,” where members walked away with thousands of dollars’ worth of consumer items.

It all came crashing down in 2020, after Buzzfeed News published accounts of nearly a dozen current and former staffers who claimed Ellen and several of her top executives created a toxic work environment behind the scenes. In August of that year, three longtime execs departed the talk show.

In September 2020 when kicking off season 18, Ellen apologized and directly addressed the situation with her audience.

“I learned that things happen here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected,” the comedian said during her opening monologue.

“We have made the necessary changes and today we are starting a new chapter,” she added. In May 2021, Ellen announced that her upcoming 19th season would be her last with her talk show.

During her current show, the Finding Nemo star told the audience at Radio City Music Hall, “I’m proud of who I’ve become.”

Ellen explained how being a public figure, “You’re open to everyone’s interpretation,” but “the truth is all that matters.”

However, she noted that in show business, “I’ve always had to care what people think because being a host or a comedian, it’s really our only true currency because it’s for success. Because if they like you, you’re in and if they don’t, you’re out.”

Following losing her self-titled sitcom in 2002 after coming out as gay, Ellen revealed how she “spent an entire life trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me.”

As a result, the rumor of her being mean “was devastating” for Ellen, who said, “It consumed me for years.” Thankfully time helped her gain “perspective,” and with that she realized the balance between caring what people thought of her “to a certain degree is healthy but not if it affects your mental health,” Ellen told the audience.