Ellen DeGeneres sued by woman after using her name for breast joke

The lawsuit says the woman received harassing phone calls after DeGeneres aired the segment with her name

Dave Kotinsky/Getty

A Georgia woman is suing Ellen DeGeneres after mispronouncing her name to make a breast joke during her daytime talk show.

Titi Pierce, 35, name is pronounced “Tee Tee … as grammar dictates”, she said in the lawsuit. But DeGeneres called her “titty Pierce”, reading one of the real estate agent’s adverts during a segment called “What’s Wong With These Ads…. and These Signs?”

“In all of her 35 years of life, no one has ever referred to Ms Pierce as “titty” until the Defendant did so on February 22, 2016 on national television,” the lawsuit reads, adding that it led to “immediate ridicule” from the audience.

The lawsuit pointed out that producers did not blur out Ms Pierce’s personal cell phone number in the segment. She said she received “ridiculing and harassing” calls while attending an out-of-state family funeral.

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Ms Pierce filed the lawsuit against Warner Bros Entertainment, Inc, the parent company of the The Ellen Show.

Titi is a name that comes from Nigeria, meaning “flower”, according to the lawsuit.

Ms Pierce is seeking damages from Warner Bros, and demands they never show the segment again.