Ever since American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and former US President George W Bush were spotted watching an NFL game in Dallas, social media and Hollywood is divided. Ellen has been severely criticised for hanging out with a former US president, under whose watch terrible human rights violations were committed in Iraq. Twitter users took to call Bush a “war criminal.”
However, Ellen was not having any of it and defended herself on her show.
“Here’s the thing: I’m friends with George Bush,” she said. “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 that’s OK that we’re all different.”
She continued, “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. It doesn’t matter.”
DeGeneres also explained how she ended up sitting next to Bush. She said that she and wife Portia de Rossi arrived at the stadium in Arlington, Texas, as guests of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. She went on to share a video she took of Bush reclining in his chair between her and Laura Bush in the Cowboys private suite.
Some Hollywood bigwigs including Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Bell and Gwen Stefani were quick to back the host.
Meanwhile others including the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo gave a strong response to Ellen’s statements.
