Leah Remini Smacked Ellen for ‘Acting’ Interested in Her Story
Leah Remini gave Ellen DeGeneres a friendly smack on yesterday’s (October 5) episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show after the actress accused the host of faking interest in her story.
During her appearance on the show, Remini, 51, spoke about her and her husband Angelo Pagan’s attempts to scare their 17-year-old daughter, Sofia. Halfway through a detailed account of her story, the King of Queens actress glanced once over each of her shoulders.
“No, ’cause you’re acting really interested,” Remini said, turning back to the 63-year-old host and pointing a finger at her, adding, “I don’t know if you’re doing that thing where you’re into my story.”
DeGeneres, seemingly startled by the shift in the conversation’s direction, responded, “I’m always interested.”
The actress then yelled, “You’re not, Ellen! Stop!” Remini proceeded to get out of her seat, lean over to the host, and hit her arm several times — and by the looks of it, quite hard, too.
“Ow! It’s my last season. Don’t hurt me,” DeGeneres told her guest as she pulled her arm away.
The actress made it clear that the physical interaction was good-natured, telling the comedian that she loved her and was “so happy” to be on the show’s 19th and final season. “Anyway, thank you for having me,” she quipped.
“Nothing but love despite my ‘mad face’ with one of my favorite people! So glad I got to visit @theellenshow one last time!” Remini wrote on Instagram, posting stills from the episode.
Watch the video below:
In May, DeGeneres confirmed that her talk show will end next year. The decision arrived after months of allegations from former staffers about the host’s behavior and the show’s “toxic” work environment. DeGeneres addressed the allegations in a letter to her staff, assuming responsibility for the issues on set, but refraining from mentioning the accusations about her own behavior.
In her season 18 opening monologue, the comedian told the audience she “learned that things happened here that never should have happened” and apologized to those affected by any workplace misconduct on her set. The show’s viewership numbers plummeted as allegations about DeGeneres and her show surfaced. However, the host said staffers’ allegations did not play a role in her decision to walk away from her long-time hosting gig.
“As great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore. I need something new to challenge me,” she said.
