EXCLUSIVE: Ellen DeGeneres has signed with WME for representation in all areas outside of touring. The Emmy-winning actor, comedian and talk show host had been in play since her long-time agent, Eddy Yablans, left CAA in December to join LBI Entertainment as a partner. He continues to represent her as a manager.
DeGeneres’ signing with WME comes on the heels of her signaling a showbiz return. The comedian, who had kept a relatively low profile since moving with wife Portia de Rossi to England in November, did an interview with English broadcaster Richard Bacon over the weekend.
In it, she said that she misses “a lot” about her daytime talk show and that she “would love to do that again” in the UK had the business model for such shows been still viable, per the BBC. She noted that she will choose “very carefully” the third act in her career after becoming a sitcom star in the 1990s with her hit series Ellen and then reinventing herself as a top daytime talk show host with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ran in syndication from 2003-2017.
“I just don’t know what that is yet,” she said, adding, “I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I’m a little bit bored.”
During the conversation, DeGeneres also addressed the end of her previous career chapter, which included allegations of a toxic workplace culture on her show, admitting that she could be “very blunt” while revealing just how “hurtful” being labeled as “mean” has been to her, adding that she is “an empathetic, compassionate person.”
Following the 2022 end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show after 19 seasons, DeGeneres embarked on a farewell tour in 2024 which culminated with her final comedy special, For Your Approval, her second for Netflix.
During its run, The Ellen DeGeneres Show earned 64 Daytime Emmy awards, including a record 12 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show. DeGeneres also won an Emmy for writing the groundbreaking episode of her sitcom, in which her character came out. In features, DeGeneres is best known for voicing Dory in the Pixar classic Finding Nemo and its sequel Finding Dory.
DeGeneres has hosted the Oscars twice, the Emmys three times and the Grammys twice. Her production company, A Very Good Production, which was based at Warner Bros. TV for many years, has produced such series as the NBC game show Ellen’s Game Of Games and variety program Little Big Shots and the Netflix animated series Green Eggs and Ham.
A best-selling author and a social media heavyweight with 300 million followers, DeGeneres is behind The Ellen Fund, which supports global conservation efforts for critically endangered species, and is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
She continues to be repped by LBI Entertainment and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.
