Ellen DeGeneres criticised after comparing coronavirus confinement to jail

‘Quarantining in your mansion in designer sweats is nothing like prison’

Ellen DeGeneres has come under criticism after jokingly comparing confinement in the time of coronavirus to jail.

The TV host delivered the line on Monday while presenting her show from home, in accordance with the rules of social distancing.

DeGeneres, who has been confined at home with her wife Portia de Rossi, first joked that isolation has been the perfect opportunity to “really get to know each other”.

“Did you know that she was Australian?” she asked viewers about her spouse, a native of Horsham, Victoria.

DeGeneres added shortly afterwards: “This is like being in jail, is what it is. Mostly because I’ve been the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay.”

The joke didn’t sit well with many viewers, who found it tone-deaf and made their feelings known on social media.

“Ellen you quarantining in your mansion in designer sweats is nothing like prison,” one person tweeted.

“Did she run this joke by *literally* anyone?!?” someone else wondered.

“Yes very much like jail, except for the part where you still have your multimillion-dollar home and your voting rights,” another person wrote.

“Ahhhh yes living in your elegant mansion is exactly like jail Thnx Ellen,” someone else tweeted.

The Independent has contacted The Ellen DeGeneres Show for comment.