--- title: Ellen DeGeneres Shares Inspiring 'Me Too' Message VIDEO description: Ellen DeGeneres is speaking out in support of the "Me Too" movement to raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault. canonical: https://time.com/4989696/ellen-degeneres-me-too-message/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-19T17:45:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:57:48.585Z og:title: 'We Are Not Alone': Ellen DeGeneres Shares Inspiring 'Me Too' Message og:description: "As hard as this is to talk about, at least we are talking about it" og:url: https://time.com/4989696/ellen-degeneres-me-too-message/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b07ea8f19ad68b/6988e2a8656a3f261fbd22a5/ellen2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1390 og:image:height: 782 og:image:alt: Ellen2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'We Are Not Alone': Ellen DeGeneres Shares Inspiring 'Me Too' Message twitter:description: "As hard as this is to talk about, at least we are talking about it" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b07ea8f19ad68b/6988e2a8656a3f261fbd22a5/ellen2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We Are Not Alone': Ellen DeGeneres Shares Inspiring 'Me Too' Message > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=bf316e2f-ad36-4c73-ada9-5f2f7dbc0b8d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: FIRSTS Ellen DeGeneres [Watch (HLS stream): FIRSTS Ellen DeGeneres](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ktq2EVeK.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2017-09-02. Ellen DeGeneres is the FIRST person who starred as an openly gay character on prime-time TV._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 19, 2017 5:45 PM UTC Ellen DeGeneres is the FIRST person who starred as an openly gay character on prime-time TV.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 19, 2017 5:45 PM UTC [Ellen DeGeneres](http://time.com/collection/firsts/4898561/ellen-degeneres-firsts/) is speaking out in support of the recent [“Me Too” movement](http://time.com/4983500/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-campaign-metoo-social-media-campaign/) to raise awareness of the prevalence of [sexual harassment and assault](http://time.com/4987390/me-too-shows-pervasive-sexual-abuse/). After sharing her own [#MeToo tweet](https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/920370985420832768) on Tuesday, the talk show host spoke candidly about the meaning of the campaign during Thursday’s episode of _Ellen_. “This is not a male thing or a female thing, it is not a Hollywood thing or a political thing. This is a human thing and it happens in the workplace, it happens in families, it happens all over the world and we are all the same,” she said. “We all want the same thing: we want respect and love and kindness.” DeGeneres went on to discuss the importance of the reignited conversation surrounding the topic. “As hard as this is to talk about, at least we are talking about it,” she said. “It’s not like this is a new thing. This has been going on forever and thanks to being connected to social media, we can see it for what it is and that we are not alone, and hopefully the conversation that we are having now will free all of us. If you are a parent, we can break the cycle and teach our little girls and our little boys that girls should be strong, boys should be kind.” The “Me Too” movement was elevated by actor Alyssa Milano when she [tweeted the message](https://twitter.com/Alyssa%5FMilano/status/919659438700670976?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Falyssa-milano-on-her-me-too-campaign-weinstein-conversation-w509345), “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet,’ in the wake of the ongoing [Harvey Weinstein scandal](http://time.com/4979258/harvey-weinstein-what-happens-next/). Watch the full clip below. ## Transcript People will look at you and they'll try and define you. Whether you're a woman, whether you're young, they'll try an cabin off what you are able to do. But people can only do that if you let them. And so, I always viewed my job as defining myself. If we are in a meeting, we are there for a reason. Not to just sit there and absorb. If you're only there not speaking you kind of create the impression that you're not prepared to be there. You need to participate and you need to know what you're talking about . >> You can ask a man to do a job that he is never qualified to do and he will raise his hand and say absolutely I'll do that job Women always say, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, I need more experience. I don't necessarily know if there's anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean why have we come to decide that being brash and overly aggressive should be the way we are? But we should also know that we're not going to feel any wiser or any more ready. In ten years than we did ten years ago, so we might as well just rip. There is a lot of perception of my gosh, this is really hard because of the gender, what do you gonna do about that, just not do it? If you wanna do something then just do it and then hope that people catch up to you. For girls that are gonna be playing Little League, anything could happen. You could be up by ten runs and you can lose the game. So stay focused, make sure you play as a team. And hopefully, you hit a home run, cuz no girl's ever hit a home run. And I'll be cheering for you. You'll never make everyone happy, so you just have to be exactly who it is that you are. And at least know that you've been true to yourself. It's about attitude, aptitude, and opportunity. Who knew I would be here? But it all started with folks that thought I had a good attitude. That put me in places, that challenged me, and then provided me opportunities, because I met and exceeded the standard. You often don't realize, people want you to succeed. And they often have very good solutions, both practical and in terms of thinking of opportunities for you. And the other thing is, I think it's not too bad To have periods of great intensity doing one thing or the other. Meryl Streep once said, every successful woman's life has its ebbs and flows. Know your power, know the power of your intellect, of your values and your commitment, the courage you have. And don't let anybody trivialize. How you have spent your years. All of them have contributed to making a very unique and special person. Just take joy, don't let anyone discourage you from that thing that you love the most. It's more about making a life [ MUSIC ] Cuz I'm making a living. That's what matters. 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