Ellen DeGeneres Seems Unbothered By Car Crash Lawsuit, All Smiles In Italy

Ellen DeGeneres looked carefree in Florence this week, spotted arm-in-arm with her wife, Portia de Rossi, during a romantic stroll by the Ponte Vecchio. The former daytime talk show host flashed a wide grin as she wrapped an affectionate arm around Portia while vacationing in Tuscany. The Italian vacation doubled as one of Ellen DeGeneres’ rare public outings, with the former talk show host showing no signs of stress over her latest legal troubles.

Following the turbulent end of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2022, Ellen and Portia stepped out of the Hollywood spotlight. They sold off their string of high-profile Montecito estates and relocated to the Cotswolds in England last year, shortly after Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The move gave them distance from the controversies surrounding Ellen’s daytime empire, which ended amid allegations of a “toxic” work environment behind the scenes. Since then, Ellen has largely retreated from the public eye, surfacing only occasionally with Portia by her side.

But even as Ellen enjoyed a carefree Italian vacation abroad this week, which was captured in photos obtained by The Daily Mail, legal troubles followed her name back home. As The Blast reported, Ellen is being sued for negligence by a woman who claims the star caused a car accident in Santa Barbara County in December 2023.

The plaintiff alleges that Ellen ran a stop sign while driving her Tesla and “t-boned” her vehicle in the intersection. In her filing, the woman insists she had come to a full stop and checked for traffic before proceeding, only to be struck by Ellen’s car. The lawsuit states that the plaintiff suffered injuries in the crash and is seeking unspecified damages.

The negligence lawsuit isn’t the first time Ellen has found herself at the center of damaging headlines. Her once-golden reputation began to unravel in 2020 after a BuzzFeed News exposé alleged a toxic culture behind the scenes of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Employees claimed some were fired after taking medical or bereavement leave, while others alleged they were warned never to speak to DeGeneres directly if they encountered her at work. One staffer, who spoke to The Daily Mail, ended up walking away from the show entirely after being subjected to repeated racially charged remarks.

As the accusations spread on social media, Ellen’s brand of kindness began to look like a façade. “That ‘be kind’ bullsh-t only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show,” one ex-staffer bluntly told the outlet.

While much of the backlash against Ellen centered on her alleged treatment of staff, insiders also claimed that her protectiveness over her wife often caused tension behind the scenes.

According to a different former crew member, Ellen didn’t like others engaging with Portia and would sometimes lose her temper if staff were caught chatting with the actress during tapings. “Portia was nice, she would say ‘hi.’ But Ellen, she would be in her chair, it would be a commercial break, and if she didn’t know you, she would ask about you,” the source recalled.

Staffers said Ellen had a special seat reserved for Portia in the studio audience, marked with a distinct gold plaque. The message, they claimed, was clear. “And listen, you knew, if you see that golden plaque, stay the hell away,” the insider explained. “You just hoped and prayed you weren’t seated by her wife, so you didn’t get her attention. You wanted to avoid looking into what we called the ‘Ellen gaze.’”

Earlier this year, Ellen DeGeneres made another move signaling her retreat from America’s spotlight, selling one of her last remaining properties in the country. She and Portia listed their two-bedroom, two-bathroom Montecito mansion on March 10 for $5 million, nearly doubling the $2.9 million they paid just four years prior.

According to PEOPLE, the 1,691-square-foot Spanish-style bungalow received multiple offers within 48 hours of hitting the market and quickly went into escrow on March 20. The final sale closed at $5.2 million, cementing Ellen and Portia’s decision to leave their California life behind.