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DeGeneres, whose daily television talk show had
been off the air for three weeks because of a stay-at-home
order, returned on Wednesday with a show filmed by her wife,
actress Portia De Rossi, from one of their California homes.
"One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that
people - this is like being in jail, is what it is," quipped
DeGeneres, who was filmed in an armchair looking out on vast,
grassy lawns and mountains.
"It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10
days and everyone in here is gay," she said, laughing at her own
joke.
While DeGeneres also praised health workers and other on the
frontlines battling the coronavirus epidemic, the prison joke
did not go down well.
"I have actual friends and loved ones who are currently
incarcerated. They are locked down in horrific conditions and
terrified what is going to happen to them. Your ‘joke’ about
being quarantined at home being like that is unfunny and
disrespectful," tweeted social justice activist Diana
#FreeThemAll4PublicHealth.
More than 280 inmates and 400 staff in New York prisons have
been infected with the coronavirus and at least seven people
have died, according to the New York Department of Corrections.
In Chicago, some 230 detainees in Cook County jails have tested
positive for the virus, along with 92 staff members.
Louisiana has also reported coronavirus-related deaths among
prison inmates.
"Hey @TheEllenShow, prisoners across this country are trapped in
24-hour quarantine in cells that are probably about the size of
one of your showers & others are sleeping 3 feet away from sick
inmates. And they're dying. You aren't experiencing anything
close to prison," wrote Caleb Grossman on Twitter.
The backlash was the latest example of celebrities being called
out for what appeared to be tone-deaf comments and social media
postings as the pandemic has put millions of Americans out of
work and killed more than 14,000 in the United States.
Last month, DeGeneres was slammed for complaining of being bored
in videos that she posted of herself lying on a couch at her
home.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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