Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend Ellen DeGeneres’ historic show in Minneapolis

Saturday’s performance at the Orpheum Theatre was supposedly the last of DeGeneres’ stand-up career.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 18, 2024 at 5:08PM
Ellen DeGeneres in her 2018 Netflix special, "Relatable." (Netflix)

Netflix was on hand to tape Ellen DeGeneres’ shows this weekend in Minneapolis, which means much of the world will soon be able to see the performances.

But some people couldn’t wait.

Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King were in the sold-out audience for Saturday’s performance, which was billed as the last time DeGeneres would be doing stand-up comedy.

Winfrey has a long relationship with DeGeneres. In 1997, she portrayed a therapist on the episode of “Ellen” in which DeGeneres’ character revealed that she was gay.

Portia de Rossi, DeGeneres’ wife, was also on hand.

Nancy Kokesch, who raises standard poodles in New Ulm, spotted the couple as they were going into the stage door.

“I said, ‘I love you! and she (DeGeneres) said, ‘I love you guys, too!” said Kokesch who confirmed that DeGeneres dragged her wife out on stage during the evening’s final encore. “She was wonderful. Just incredible.”

The three sold-out shows in the Twin Cities marked the end of a nationwide tour called “Ellen’s Last Stand...Up.”

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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