Rosario Monachino
Ellen DeGeneres has been called out for making actress Penelope Cruz ‘uncomfortable’ on TV.
The 64-year-old comedian hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ran from 2003 to 2022.
The chat show was best known for its light-hearted discussions with guests and interactions with fans.
DeGeneres would get her celebrity guests to take part in games like ‘Ellen’s Dance Dare’, ‘Head’s Up’ (which is now a successful app that fans can download and play), and ‘Buzzing Questions’.
However, the host is now being criticised after footage of her quizzing Cruz about her onscreen kisses resurfaced online.
Watch Ellen DeGeneres ask Penelope Cruz about her on-screen kisses below…
The game involved the Finding Dory voice actress reminding the Pirates of the Caribbean star about her history of locking lips with her co-stars.
DeGeneres would ask Cruz if she could recognise the actors based on their lips.
During the game, the Vanilla Sky actress only appeared to smile when she correctly guessed that the first celebrity in the lineup was Matt Damon, who starred opposite her in the 2000 film All The Pretty Horses.
The game only got more awkward and uncomfortable for Cruz as she continued to guess celebrities by their lips, with Scarlett Johanssen’s lips eventually popping up on the screen.
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DeGeneres reminded the Everybody Knows star that the pair kissed in the 2008 movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Footage of the game has recently been uploaded to The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s YouTube and Instagram pages, where viewers have been criticising the segment.
One person wrote: “She looks well uncomfortable.”
Someone else agreed, adding: “This is so hard to watch, Penelope looks so uncomfortable throughout.”
“She looks really uncomfortable. This was a very reductive exercise,” commented a third.
While another viewer said: “Is quite obvious she dislikes this stupid game…. as usual, Ellen being rude and not funny.”
A fifth person commented: “She looks so annoyed! She even said: ‘Really’. She was not impressed and neither am I.”
DeGeneres stepped down from hosting her hugely popular chat show after hosting the programme for 19 years.
In an announcement on the programme, the comedian said it was ‘the right time for her’ to end the show.
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As reported by the BBC, she said: “The truth is, I always trust my instincts. My instinct told me it’s time.
“Two years ago, I signed a deal for three more years and I always knew in my heart that Season 19 would be my last.”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show was met with controversy towards the end of its run as the programme got accused of being a toxic environment to work in.
As reported by BBC, three senior producers lost their jobs due to these reports and DeGeneres addressed this in a monologue.
She said: “I learned that things happened that should never have happened.
“If I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I am sorry for that.”
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