FoxEllen DeGeneres sat next to George Bush at a football game this weekend, and the scene baffled the world so much the TV show host actually felt the need to explain herself.
If you’ve been on social media at all in the last couple of days, you’ll know exactly what went on when the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, October 6.
I’m not talking about the events of the game, or the score, but rather the unexpected combination of fans it attracted. Needless to say, the Twittersphere went into a frenzy when it saw the former president laughing and joking with DeGeneres.
Check out the TV personality’s response to the trending topic here:
The pair were enjoying the game in a private suite owned by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, alongside Bush’s wife, Laura and DeGeneres’ wife, Portia de Rossi.
The game was being broadcast on Fox NFL, and a brief cut to Bush and DeGeneres was all that was needed to send the internet into a spiral. While many people cracked jokes about the unlikely friendship, some people took the opportunity to slam DeGeneres for sitting next to the Republican.
Check out some of the tweets below:
I would absolutely watch this sitcom though pic.twitter.com/3v3V5Xz01N
— Paid man gets bored (@cjzero) October 6, 2019
#NFL Former President George W. Bush next to Ellen DeGeneres.
Name a more weird couple pic.twitter.com/etJficbfwH
— Jeven W. (@xSmootx) October 6, 2019
So quirky and fun to see George Bush out with Ellen at a Cowboys game after his terrible foreign policy decisions killed thousands of innocent people 😍
— Katherine Taylor (@katherinearitay) October 7, 2019
@TheEllenShow wow Ellen just wow sitting with former Republican president George Bush at the Dallas Cowboy game#hypocrite fake as hell
— mike (@mike77381623) October 6, 2019
Speaking to The Ellen Show audience today, October 8, she described how fans were upset with her, a self-proclaimed ‘gay Hollywood liberal’, for sitting next to a conservative Republican president.
Though it might be the first time the world has been made aware of the pair’s relationship, DeGeneres explained she is friends with Bush, among many other people.
Fox/The Ellen Show/YouTubeEllen continued:
Here’s the thing. I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have.
We’re all different and I think we’ve forgotten that’s okay that we’re all different.
But just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them.
When I say be kind to one another I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.
GettyAt the end of the day, it’s not up to any of us to tell people who they should or shouldn’t be friends with. DeGeneres shouldn’t have to explain why she was pictured smiling next to the former president; that’s her business.
However, as people look up to her, she took the opportunity to point out that we don’t have to automatically hate those who disagree with us.
President George Bush @GeorgeWBush and Ellen Degeneres @TheEllenShow are sitting together at the Packers & Cowboys game.
This shouldn’t trigger you.
This should give you hope for our future. ✌🏽
— BAM (@swimbrave) October 6, 2019
Her response was met with applause from her audience and she has since been praised on Twitter for addressing those who condemned her friendship.
While the jokes about the pair sitting next to each other were probably inevitable, she’s proved the criticisms were invalid and uncalled for.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.