Ellen DeGeneres announces farewell tour dates, including 'special taping'
Ellen DeGeneres is making the rounds for what is expected to be her farewell comedy tour.
On Wednesday, the 66-year-old comedian announced a total of 27 dates for Ellen's Last Stand…Up Tour, beginning on June 19 until Aug. 17. She is including stops in San Diego, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee.
The final two shows, occurring in Minneapolis, will be a part of a "special taping."
"This will be the last opportunity for fans to witness a comedy legend in her final curtain call," according to tour producer Live Nation.
Ellen DeGeneres breaks silence on talk show's 'devastating' end 2 years ago: Reports
How to buy tickets to Ellen DeGeneres' final stand-up tour
Presale tickets for the tour are going on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. local time on ellenshop.com/tour. The presale code is "CHICKEN," she announced on Instagram.
General onsale begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time on LiveNation.com.
Eight of the dates are already sold out as they were previously announced.
Ellen DeGeneres reportedly discussed show ending during earlier standup show
DeGeneres officially made her return to the stage for her farewell tour in April at Los Angeles' Largo, breaking her silence two years after her long-running talk show ended in the wake of allegations of a toxic workplace.
According to Rolling Stone and People, DeGeneres took the opportunity to address the elephant in the room: her absence from the limelight in recent years.
"We were both just laying low for a while," she said of herself and her wife of 15 years, Portia de Rossi, per the outlets.
Reflecting on the backlash she experienced after a Buzzfeed News published a report in July 2020 detailing current and former employees' claims that they faced racism, fear and intimidation while working on the show, DeGeneres summarized: "The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind. I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps."
When asked by an audience member whether she was able to dance through tough times, DeGeneres replied, "No, it's hard to dance when you're crying. But I am dancing now."
The comedian took a moment to be vulnerable with fans on the first show of her tour.
"I'm making jokes about what happened to me but it was devastating, really," she said. "I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way."
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In a monologue commemorating her final episode after 19 years on air, DeGeneres said, "I walked out here 19 years ago, and I said that this is the start of a relationship. And today is not the end of a relationship. It's more of a little break. It’s a, 'You can see other talk shows now. And I may see another audience once in a while.'"
DeGeneres' contract expired in May 2022, when the show aired its final episode, and before this, she spoke publicly about potentially ending the show.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Hannah Yasharoff and Sara M Moniuszko
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ellen DeGeneres announces farewell tour: How to buy tickets
