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Ellen DeGeneres thanks Madonna for reaching out to her when she came out 15 years ago
Ellen DeGeneres publicly thanked Madonna for her support back in 1997 when she made the decision to come out as a lesbian.
Starring in her own ABC sitcom at the time, the disclosure was such big news that it made the cover of Time magazine with the now-famous headline, ‘Yep, I’m Gay.’
‘It was all over the place and a big, huge topic – people were against it, people were for it,’ Ellen said Monday when Madonna appeared as a guest. ‘I had never had that much media attention. It was really scary.’
‘Madonna called me out of the blue – we had never met,’ she added. ‘I just all of a sudden get a call saying, ‘It’s Madonna and I just want to say I’m behind you, I’m with you,, I support you.’
Ellen told the audience that Madonna also said some ‘really amazing things’ of a more personal nature but also talked to her ‘about holding on to this ride.’
‘One thing (she) said to me was, ‘Things come to you when you let go and you don’t care and need the validation anymore.’ When you’re closeted, you really need people to love you and you’re so scared if you come out, no one will love you anymore.’
‘It was hard at the time to hear that because I thought, ‘Well, I want people to love me!’
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Jan McGrath says:
To whom it may concern,
I am intrigued by the letter that Madonna sent to Ellen fifteen years ago.
Ellen read some of it on air and mentioned that the entire letter would be on the website. I am assuming that it may take a few days before it is posted on line so I would really apprecaite it if one of your staff members could forward the letter to me some time when they can work it into their schedule.
Ellen read the introduction of the letter and it was so inspirational.
I am very impressed with Madonna and have a new found respect for not only for her strength in character but for her articulate narative.
She has a sensative, intuative intelect and I can see how a powerful letter like this had such a huge impact on Ellen.
I am very touched by Madonna’s heart felt letter and I would like to have it archived so I can refer to it and also share Madonna’s wise advice with my freinds when they are aslo in a time of need.
I look forward to recieving your response.
Thank you so much, Jan
P.S. I am Canadian, maybe I am realted to Ellen too eh!
Adam Stein says:
Ditto. I would love to see the words in writing as well. As a gay dad who has come out to all around me including my children, I have managed to find strength, support and inspiration from many, including my kids and myself but, it is always good to find more and Madonnas words were amazing.