Ellen DeGeneres is a brand that has grown into a global phenomenon. She has, in her own charming ways, used fame as a leverage to influence her fans and followers to inculcate compassion in their everyday lives and support charities and organisations dedicated to help those in need.
Ellen personally supports people and families who are facing difficulties owing to poverty and lack of health care. She has, time and again, used her popular ‘The Ellen Show’ as a platform to reach out to the needy and create awareness among her viewers about the less privileged in the society. As in her public life, her personal life too is marked by her humanitarian ventures. She, along with Ben Affleck, initiated the Small Change Campaign to end hunger in America, and has financially supported ‘The Gentle Barn’, which is devoted to rescuing and rehabilitating abused farm animals. To add to her charitable ventures, Ellen also found ways to make her 2014 Oscar selfie tweet work in favour of her humanitarian mission. Samsung, the phone used by Ellen to take the popular selfie, donated $1 to charity for every retweet, which reached to over 3 million retweets. The money was donated to Ellen’s chosen charities – St Jude’s Children’s Hospital and The Humane Society.
Ellen supports a wide range of charities, mainly those concerned with disadvantaged youths; organisations associated with depression and suicide, animal protection, cancer and AIDs, as well as refugees and human trafficking. Her overwhelming commitment to charity has been recognised at various forums. In January 2016 she won the Favourite Humanitarian Award at the People’s Choice Awards. Her acceptance speech at the award ceremony demonstrated her attitude to serve those in need. She said: “It’s a little strange to get an award for being nice and generous and kind, which is what we are all supposed to do with one another. That’s the point of being human… Deep down we all love each other and we really need to get back to that.”
Ellen DeGeneres, who turns 60 on January 26, has savoured fame and adulation from close quarters. It was way back in the 1980s that she initiated her career as a stand-up comedian and went on to star in the popular sitcom ‘Ellen’ from 1994 to 1998. Her syndicated TV talk show, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, which was started in 2003, continues to date.As an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer, Ellen has become a familiar face; she has found her niche among like minded folks.
Her career as a film actress included ‘Mr. Wrong’ and ‘The Love Letter’, but it was her voice of Dory in the animated film ‘Finding Nemo’ in 2003 and ‘Finding Dory’ in 2016 that won her recognition. She won the ‘Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress’, which was the first for a voice performance.
What makes Ellen an inspiration for her fans is not just her celebrity status as an entertainer, it is her wisdom in using that popularity to influence them to inculcate compassion into their lives and do their bit for charity. As she says, “I’m not an activist; I don’t look for controversy. I’m not a political person, but I’m a person with compassion. I care passionately about equal rights. I care about human rights. I care about animal rights.”
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