For some strange reason there has been a lot of controversy surrounding JC Penney’s choice to hire Ellen Degeneres as its spokesperson. The openly gay talk show host spoke out against the anti-gay group “One Million Moms” yesterday on her show, and today JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson joined CBS News to cement the company’s support of Degeneres.

Johnson said:

“We don’t look at it like a controversy. One of the great things about America is people can speak their mind. And you know, the organization that believes one thing has spoken and it was great to see Ellen share her views yesterday… We stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson… She shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on the golden rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like you would like to be treated yourself. And we think Ellen represents the values of our company and the values that we share.”

Here’s the video from CBS.

Yesterday on her show, Ellen talked about the recent ruling on Prop 8 (the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional) and addressed the group “One Million Moms.” After “shocking” the audience be admitting that she was gay, pointing out that “One Million Moms” only has 40,000 members, and reading a few supporting messages she has received on Facebook, Ellen said:

“I really want to thank everyone who is supporting me. Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That’s what I stand for… I also believe in dance.”

Do you think J.C. Penny made the right move by choosing Ellen Degeneres as its spokesperson? The controversy has certainly drawn a lot of attention to the store and most of it seems to be good attention.

Is Ron Johnson right about this not being a controversy? People are free to speak their minds but Ellen and JC Penney don’t have to pay attention.

Ellen Degeneres Controversy: JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson Defends New Spokesperson [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week, virtually no one was surprised when thinly-veiled hate group OneMillionMoms.com called for the firing of Ellen DeGeneres as the spokeswoman for JC Penney due to the fact that DeGeneres is an “open homosexual.”

Ellen is also host of the popular TV chat show that bears her name, and it is likely JC Penney seriously considered the whole “lesbian” thing before they brought her on as host. While the star does not hide her sexuality nor her lengthy relationship with Arrested Development star Portia De Rossi, neither is she overtly political in tone and hardly believable as a soldier in the “culture war” OneMillionMoms claims is ongoing.

Predictably, the group has wrapped their bigotry up in “family values,” with the implication that perhaps one of the most positive personalities on television today is somehow damaging to the morality of viewers. But Ellen has spoken out, admitting that while she rarely addresses such issues on her show, it was important to her to thank JC Penney for not cowing to the (probably very weak) pressure to “fire” her.

Ellen segued in to the topic by mentioning the ruling that Prop 8 in California was unconstitutional, and she added:

“I’m sure the people who oppose it will try to appeal it, but it’s a step in the right direction. So I’m happy… But there’s a group called One Million Moms that isn’t happy about it. And normally, I try not to pay attention to my haters- but this time I’d like to talk about it, because my haters are my motivators.”

Ellen continued:

“This organization doesn’t think I should be the spokesperson because I’m gay. They wanted to get me fired, and I’m proud and happy to say that JC Penney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson. Which is great news for me because I also need some new crew socks. I’m really going to clean up with this discount… After JCPenney didn’t back down, I thought the story would be over… it did not go away. The group has posted a message on their Facebook page.”

DeGeneres then noted for the crowd that “being gay or pro-gay isn’t a bandwagon. You don’t get a free ride anywhere. There’s no music. And occasionally we’ll sing ‘We Are Family’ but that’s about it,” before thanking fans and the retailer for sticking by her. (She also added that “not that there’s anyone counting, but for a group that calls themselves a Million Moms, they only have 40,000 members on their page. So they’re rounding up to the nearest million and I get that.”) Ellen says:

“I usually don’t talk about stuff like this on my show, but I really want to thank everyone who is supporting me. Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That’s what I stand for… I also believe in dance.”

Do you plan on shopping at JC Penney more to support their support of their openly gay spokeswoman?

Ellen DeGeneres Addresses One Million Mom ‘Haters’ on Show is a post from: The Inquisitr

Portia De Rossi will be starring in a new pilot, “The Smart One,” for ABC. The show just got a pilot ordered from the network which will be produced by Portia’s partner, Ellen Degeneres.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Portia de Rossi will star as a  “brilliant and successful woman who begrudgingly goes to work for her less-brainy but more popular sister – a former beauty queen, weather girl and now big-city Mayor.”

The show will be written Donald Todd and produced by DeGeneres and Lauren Corrao.

If the show gets picked up De Rossi will be a very busy actress as it was announced last year that “Arrested Development” would be returning for one more season.

Portia has starred in two shows that have gained cult status after a short run. “Arrested Development” was cancelled after just three seasons and “Better Off Ted” was cancelled after two seasons.

Do you like the premise for “The Smart One?” Do you want to Portia De Rossi’s new show?

In other Portia / Ellen news, the celebrity couple recently purchased Brad Pitt’s mansion. Ellen also recently became the spokesperson for JC Penney. One Million Moms recently started a protest against JC Penney for choosing an openly gay woman as its spokesperson.

Portia De Rossi and Ellen Degeneres’ Pilot Picked Up By ABC is a post from: The Inquisitr

One Million Moms, an anti-gay group, is hoping to convince JC Penney to fire their new spokesperson, Ellen DeGeneres.

The group says that JC Penney’s decision to hire the openly gay TV show host will backfire since the store’s main customers are “traditional families.” One Million Moms has started a protest asking JC Penney to fire Ellen for being gay. One Million Moms wrote in a statement:

“Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families. More sales will be lost than gained unless they replace their spokesperson quickly. Unless JC Penney decides to be neutral in the culture war then their brand transformation will be unsuccessful.”

GLAAD has launched a counter protest in support of Ellen. According to the NY Daily News, the “Stand Up For Ellen” campaign already has more than 10,000 signatures. Herndon Graddick, Senior Director of Programs and Communications at GLAAD, said in a statement:

“While designated hate groups try to start ‘culture wars,’ it’s clear that a vast majority of Americans today support Ellen as well as their LGBT friends and family members. Selecting an out performer who has inspired and entertained millions, is not only a smart business practice, but a reflection of how LGBT Americans today are an integral and valued part of the fabric of our culture.”

Do you support Ellen? Do you think she’ll be a good spokesperson for JC Penney?

Michelle Obama appears to be a supporter of Ellen. The first lady was on the Ellen Degeneres show earlier this week and challenged the talk show host to a push-up contest. 

One Million Moms Protest Ellen DeGeneres’ Partnership With JC Penney is a post from: The Inquisitr

The first lady his making her way around the talk show circuit, challenging various hosts to healthy challenges. Yesterday she convinced Jay Leno to try some vegetables and today she challenged Ellen to a push-up contest on “The Ellen Degeneres” show.

After talking about President Obama’s socks, Ellen and Michelle got down next to the couches to do some push-ups.

Michelle Obama has made it her top priority to change the way America eats. Her “Let’s Move” campaign encourages kids to eat healthy and to get outdoors. Last year, the “Let’s Move” capaign set a world record for most people to do jumping jacks at one time.

Here’s the video of Ellen and Michelle doing push-ups. Michelle won the competition, but it looks like Ellen had a little better form.

Are you impressed with Michelle’s push-up abilities? The First Lady is definitely in good shape but she doesn’t hold a candle to Jon Stewart.

On “The Daily Show” last week, Stewart did about 40 push-ups during a contest with journalist Paula Broadwell. Broadwell won, by twenty push-ups, and Stewart agreed to donate $20,000 to the charity Team Red White and Blue.

Michelle Obama Does Push-Ups on Ellen [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Seal took some time this week amid his announced divorce from wife Heidi Klum to sing on the Ellen DeGeneres show and the song he chose to highlight was “Let’s Stay Together.”

The Al Green classic includes the lyrics:

“Baby, let’s, let’s stay together / Loving you whether, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad.”

It’s not clear at this time whether Seal was attempting to make amends with his supermodel wife or simply wanted to showcase his cover which is features on his upcoming album. Then again there are plenty of other songs he could have chose to sing.

Here’s Seal’s performance:

In any case “Let’s Stay Together” is getting a lot of love over the last week, even President Obama sang his own short rendition of the song while appears at the famous Apollo Theater.

The song choice for seal comes just after he and Klum released the following joint statement:

“While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul searching we have decided to separate. We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart. This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition. We thank our family, friends, and fans for their kind words of support. And for our children’s sake, we appreciate you respecting our privacy.”

What do you think of Seal’s song choice, was he just choosing to sing a classic or do you think he was reaching out to Heidi Klum?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Seal Sings “Let’s Stay Together” On Ellen. Was It A Final Plea To Heidi Klum? [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

It looks like Heidi Klum and Seal are trying to have the most amicable divorce in the history of marriage. Today on the Ellen Degeneres Show, Seal had nothing but kind words for his soon to be ex-wife.

Seal said that his marriage with Klum was ending but his relationship with her never would. Seal said:

“We will be connected in many ways till the rest of our lives … through our children and also through this tremendous admiration, respect and love that we have for each other.”

Klum and Seal had three children together. Seal also legally adopted Klum’s daughter from a previous relationship.

Seal, who was still wearing his wedding ring on the show, said that he isn’t quite ready to take it off. Seal said:

“I think it’s just pretty much a token of how I feel about this woman. We have eight years, eight wonderful years together. Just because we have decided to separate doesn’t necessarily mean you take off your ring and you’re no longer connected to that person…  Will we wear the ring for the rest of our lives? Who knows? But right now it feels really comfortable on my hand, so I have no intentions of taking it off anytime soon.”

Here’s the clip from “The Ellen Degeneres” show of Seal talking about his divorce to Heidi Klum.

Heidi Klum has been quiet about the divorce since the couple released their official statement. TMZ reports that Heidi is the one seeking a separation. The gossip site also speculates that Seal’s temper is largely responsible for the split.

Do you think Seal is in denial about the state of his relationship? Or do you think Heidi feels the same way?

Seal Still Loves Heidi Klum Despite Pending Divorce [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sofia Vergara looked absolutely stunning when she appeared on “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” well, at least at the beginning.

Ellen and Sofia Vergara are both spokespeople for Cover Girl so they decided to give a little demonstration for the audience. Ellen stood behind Vergara as the “Modern Family” read a script, written by Ellen, about her daily routine.

“I like to use foundation, but since we’re in a hurry I’m just going to use the whole bottle,” Vergara says. “My cheeks look better with as much rouge as possible. Rouge on the cheeks, on the forehead, and between my breasts.”

Sofia Vergara protested throughout the skit but ultimately couldn’t help herself from laughing.

Here’s the video from Sofia Vergara’s appearance on the “Ellen Degeneres Show.”

Ellen Paints Sofia Vergara’s Face With Cover Girl Makeup [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris is- despite her father’s efforts to keep her out of the public eye- embarking on a career in show business.

Out of all the celebrities in recent memory, it’s hard to think of one who struggled with the pressures of fame more than the late king of pop. It’s difficult to imagine whether, had he lived past the age of 50, Jackson would have wanted a similar future for his three children Paris, Prince Michael and Blanket. But the now 13-year-old says it was her father’s career and talents that have inspired her to follow in his rather large footsteps. The teen went on Ellen DeGeneres’ popular talk show Ellen to discuss her ambitions, and talked a bit about her dad’s influence on her budding career from when she was very young, Paris explains:

“I love acting… When I was really little, my Dad was in the movie Moonwalker, and I knew he could sing really well, but I didn’t know he could act. I saw that and I said, ‘Wow, I want to be just like him.’”

The pop star’s daughter also recalls her father’s habit of putting masks on his kids before the family ventured into public spaces, and says that while she thought it was silly at the time, she now understands the lengths her father went to to protect the kids:

“I’m like, ‘This is stupid why am I wearing a mask?’ But I kind of realized the older I got like he only tried to protect us and he’d explain that to us too. I do have like a regular childhood. I mean, I’m treated the same. When I came to [school] they didn’t know who I was. I was like, ‘Yes, I have a chance to be normal.’”

Paris Jackson will be appearing in Lundon’s Bridge and the Three Keys, her first feature film, out in 2013.

Paris Jackson Talks to Ellen, Says She Wants to Be Just Like Her Dad is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Dark Knight was the big winner at this year’s People’s Choice Awards, winning five gongs including favorite movie and on-screen pairing for stars Christian Bale and Heath Ledger.

Carrie Underwood took three People’s Choice Awards for favorite female singer, country song “Last Name,” and star under 35 years-old.

Adam Sandler was named funniest male star, Reese Witherspoon favorite female movie star, and Kate Hudson top leading lady.

Other winners included Dancing With the Stars as favorite reality show, House as favorite TV drama, Brad Pitt as favorite leading man, Angelina Jolie as favorite female action star and Ellen DeGeneres as favorite talk show host.

Dark Knight Big Winner at People’s Choice Awards 2009 is a post from: The Inquisitr