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Ellen DeGeneres is facing a negligence lawsuit tied to a 2023 crash where she allegedly ran a stop sign and collided with another vehicle.
According to the suit, the incident occurred on October 16, 2023, in Santa Barbara County. The plaintiff claims she had come to a complete stop, checked for traffic, and proceeded through the intersection when DeGeneres allegedly ignored the stop sign and “t-boned” her car.
The woman says the crash left her with “multiple serious personal injuries and damages,” resulting in lost wages, hefty medical bills, emotional distress, anxiety, and a diminished quality of life. The filing accuses DeGeneres of “negligent conduct [that] fell below the standard of care of a reasonable person.” She is seeking unspecified compensatory damages.
The alleged accident happened a year after DeGeneres wrapped her long-running talk show, which aired for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022 and ended amid controversy over claims of a toxic work environment.
In her Netflix special Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, the comedian addressed those allegations. “I’m happy not being a boss or a brand or a billboard, just a person,” she said. “Just a multifaceted person with different feelings and emotions, and I can be happy and sad and compassionate or frustrated.”
She added: “I have OCD and ADD. I’m honest. I’m generous. I’m sensitive and thoughtful. But I’m tough, and I’m impatient, and I’m demanding. I’m direct. I’m a strong woman.”
DeGeneres admitted her career in comedy made her hyper-aware of public opinion: “If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t, you’re out. And I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me. So, the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time.”
“After a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore,” she continued. “So I don’t. But if I’m being honest… and I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who was mean or someone who was beloved. Be-lov-ed? Beloved? Beloved. Someone who is beloved? I choose that.”
