Ellen Degeneres has detailed how she made her decision to come out as gay in the 1990s, amidst her concerns that the public disclosure of her sexuality would have a negative impact on her career.
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The chat show host revealed she was a lesbian during an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in February 1997. In a bit of a role reversal, the comedian had Oprah Winfrey on her show Friday, promoting the series, and sharing what she learned from DeGeneres’ episode.
When she saw a course called “The inner dialogue of your subconscious mind” she chose to give it a try. We’ve watched her evolve into a gay icon and her handsome marriage to Portia de Rossi blossom over the last few years.
‘I wanted to know what the inner dialogue of my subconscious mind was, and it was scary and insane, ‘ she said.
But until then, the star had been afraid to be honest with herself and her fans.
“It became bigger than I ever thought it would be”, she said.
The initial shame manifested into a desire toward authenticity which eventually led to her breakthrough and her soon thereafter coming out.
“I knew that it would be big, but I had no idea that it was going to be this big”, DeGeneres said at the time to Oprah in an interview.
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After realizing this, Winfrey mentioned she lastly found out the true legacy of DeGeneres.
