Ellen DeGeneres Crying as She Receives the Medal of Freedom Is Making Us Cry
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We're not crying, you're crying!
Ellen DeGeneres headed to the White House on Tuesday to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and the talk show host couldn't help but get emotional during POTUS's speech right before she was awarded the special honor.
"It's easy to forget now, when we've come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law, just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago," the president said, starting to get emotional as he recounted the funny woman's dynamic career in Hollywood.
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POTUS continued, pausing to touch a visibly choked up DeGeneres on the arm, "She did pay a price. We don't remember this. I hadn't remembered it. She did, for a pretty long stretch of time, even in Hollywood. And yet today, every day, in every way, Ellen counters what too often divides us, with the countless things that bind us together, inspires us to be better, one joke, one dance at a time."
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The comedian had reportedly had a very busy couple of hours before the event. She took to Twitter to report she almost didn't make it to the awards ceremony as she forgot her ID, then when she gained entry, she posed with other Presidential Medal awardees like Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro as well as many A-list guests for pretty much the most epic mannequin challenge ever.
Right after the ceremony, DeGeneres had the most Ellen response to her big night, talking to Twitter to share a photo of her and wife Portia de Rossi with the cheeky caption, "@POTUS Barack Obama just awarded me the #MedalofFreedom. I hope it serves as an ID. I have no idea how I'm getting home."
.@POTUS Barack Obama just awarded me the #MedalofFreedom. I hope it serves as an ID. I have no idea how I'm getting home. pic.twitter.com/JSMf0sJqyF
-- Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) November 22, 2016
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In the words of President Obama, leave it to the beloved daytime host to end the evening on a joke! Click here to watch the entire ceremony.
