Netflix releases trailer for Ellen DeGeneres special marking TV icon's return to stand-up

The comedian and TV host's Netflix special is set to be released on 18 December

Netflix has released the trailer of Ellen DeGeneres's upcoming comedy special, which marks her return to stand-up after a 15-year hiatus.

In Relatable, which is set to be released on 18 December, DeGeneres questions whether her Hollywood fame and Emmy-winning talk show mean she's no longer accessible enough for stand-up comedy.

The two-minute trailer also sees the comedian and TV host reflect on the cancellation of her sitcom Ellen after she came out as a lesbian (as did her character) in 1997.

In the newly released trailer, DeGeneres explains she told one of her friends about her forthcoming stand-up comeback – and the announcement was met with a lacklustre reaction.

"He said, 'Well, do you think you're still relatable?'" the comedian recounts, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

She adds in a self-deprecating punchline: "Just then, my butler stepped into the library."

DeGeneres also jokes about how, because she has repeatedly urged her viewers to "be kind to one another", she cannot "do anything unkind, ever".

"I shouldn't even have a horn in my car," she says. "Like, if someone cuts me off in a dangerous way, if I honk, they're like: 'Ellen?'"

The comedian also recounts how a TV station manager once told her: "No one is going to watch a lesbian during the day."

"I said 'Well, they weren't watching me at night, what time of day is good for a lesbian?'" she continues.

The trailer also includes a bit about unexpected emotional support animals on planes.

"You're walking down the aisle to your seat, which is 10B or whatever it is, it's like Noah's Ark," she says. "There's a woman with a ferret, there's a man with a mongoose, there's a lady with a donkey..."

DeGeneres, who made $87.5m in 2018 according to Forbes, then jokes about her wealth, bringing it back to the overarching theme of her stand-up show – her relatability.

"You're walking to your seat, it's 10B or whatever it is. I say 10B. Does a plane go back that far?" she asks. "I've never been back there."