--- title: Ellen DeGeneres Mocks TIME Person of the Year Angela Merkel description: Ellen makes fun of TIME person of the year issue on The Ellen DeGeneres Show canonical: https://time.com/4155086/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-ellen-degeneres-show/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-18T19:12:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:52.744Z og:title: Ellen DeGeneres Is Bummed She Wasn’t Person of the Year og:description: Ellen makes fun of TIME person of the year issue on The Ellen DeGeneres Show og:url: https://time.com/4155086/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-ellen-degeneres-show/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ellen DeGeneres Is Bummed She Wasn’t Person of the Year twitter:description: Ellen makes fun of TIME person of the year issue on The Ellen DeGeneres Show twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Ellen DeGeneres Is Bummed She Wasn’t Person of the Year > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c28ebb51-f520-4800-a427-f03eea3d4f5f&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Person of The Year 2015: Watch Angela Merkel's Year in Review [Watch (HLS stream): Person of The Year 2015: Watch Angela Merkel's Year in Review](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CG7O6dnC.m3u8) (3:47)  _Published 2015-12-09. Person of the year 2015: Watch Angela Merkel's Year in Review_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Dec 18, 2015 7:12 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Dec 18, 2015 7:12 PM UTC On Thursday’s episode of _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_, the comedian said she was disappointed that TIME magazine did not name her [Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel-choice/). “I can’t believe I lost to a painting,” she said, while holding up a copy of the issue with a [painting](http://time.com/4141829/time-person-of-the-year-behind-the-cover/) of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the cover. “I’m a little disappointed though because I thought this was my year.” Then she got doubly dissed when she unveiled “Ellen Magazine’s Person of the Year,” which also featured the world leader. She is the latest comedian to poke fun at the annual issue, from _Saturday Night Live_‘s [Kate McKinnon](http://time.com/4146958/angela-merkel-snl-poy/) who pretended to be Merkel reacting to the honor, to _Tonight Show_ host [Jimmy ](http://time.com/4145640/jimmy-fallon-time-poy/)[Fallon](http://time.com/4145640/jimmy-fallon-time-poy/) joking that the leader’s expression on the cover showed her level of excitement. ### 10 Photos That Show Why Angela Merkel Is the World’s Most Powerful Woman  January: From left: French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas link arms during a silent march against terrorism in Paris on Jan. 11, 2015 following the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket. ORBAN/REA/Redux  May: Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a news conference after peace talks about east Ukraine at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 10, 2015. Sergei Ilnitsky/Reuters  May: Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron listen to their nations' national anthems upon Cameron's arrival at the Chancellery on May 29, 2015 in Berlin. Cameron was in Berlin as part of his tour of European Union member states capitals in order to persuade leaders on the necessity of E.U. reforms. Getty Images  June: From left: U.S. President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Francois Hollande attend a working dinner at the G7 summit at the castle Elmau in Kruen, Germany on June 7, 2015\. Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations met in the Bavarian Alps for a summit overshadowed by Greece's debt crisis and ongoing violence in Ukraine. Michael Kappeler—Reuters  June: Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama outside the Elmau castle in Kruen near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on June 8, 2015 during the G7 summit. Michael Kappeler—Reuters  June: Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes Queen Elizabeth II upon her arrival at the Federal Chancellery during the royal couple's four-day visit to Germany on June 24, 2015 in Berlin. The Queen and Prince Philip visited Berlin, Frankfurt and the concentration camp memorial at Bergen-Belsen during their first to Germany since 2004. Getty Images  October: Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron talk at the beginning of their meeting at the country residence of the prime minister at Chequers in Buckinghamshire, England on Oct. 9, 2015. Bundesregierung/laif/Redux  October: Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting over the Balkan refugee crisis with leaders from central and eastern Europe at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 25, 2015. Eric Vidal—Reuters  October: Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk at the Federal Chancellery on Oct. 21, 2015 in Berlin. Guido Bergmann—Bundesregierung/Getty Images  October: China's Premier Li Keqiang and Chancellor Angela Merkel inspect honor guards during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2015. Jason Lee—Reuters ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] 2015 was Europe's most tumultuous year in recent memory. The gruesome terrorist attack targeted satirical newspaper Paris. And your bankruptcy of Greece spread in Europe's currency union. A massive influx of refugees overwhelm the continent. And as the year wound down, terrorists struck again in the city of light, killing at least 130 people and sowing fears of future attacks. Into that turmoil stepped German chancellor Angela Merkel. 2015 was her tenth year at the helm of Europe's largest economy. Few expected her to last that long. Born in Hamburg in 1954, Merkel grew up in the former East Germany, traveling only as widely as the confines of the Iron Curtain would allow. It wasn't until 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down, But Merkel left the world of physics to enter national politics at the age of 35. She rose quickly, becoming a member of Parliament, a government minister at 36. But it appears Tennet underestimated Merkel. [ FOREIGN ] Even after she was elected Germany's first female Chancellor in 2005. Here nickname in the German press soon became [ FOREIGN ] [ APPLAUSE ] For momma, a rise short hand for her motherly and moralizing style. But the events of this year showed Morty confronting every challenge. In January, massive crowds of right wing demonstrators protested Morty's openness towards migrants in the Muslim world. In response, Morty rallied side by side with Muslim leaders and By the summer, the left- wing government in Athens was on the verge of financial ruin. Desperate Greeks demanded debt relief, and Merkel became the target of their anger. But she didn't flinch. On her insistence, Greece was forced to accept even tougher terms for repayment stats To other European crisis [ FOREIGN ] a chance got her way. But the refugee crisis soon pose even a greater challenge. By August roughly a hundred thousand were arriving in Europe each month from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones. Hungary and other states began to build fences and close borders That marked a turning point for Merkel. In early September, she made the bold decision to double down on her open door policy. [ FOREIGN ] Fatigue has set in fast. Some of Merkel's closest allies questioned whether their pragmatic chancellor had gone soft and sentimental. The Islamist terror attacks that struck Paris in November have not made it any easier Here, for [ UNKNOWN ] to preach compassion and inclusiveness. Throughout Europe Islamiphobia's on the rise, and yet talk of [ UNKNOWN ] political downfall proved to be premature. Across Europe and the world she's no longer seen as just a frugal and efficient manager, she now embodies Europe's ideals of openness and solidarity At a time when both were being severely tested. By viewing the refugees as victims to be rescued rather than invaders to be repelled. The woman raised behind the iron curtain and gambled on freedom. You can agree with her or no, but she's not taking the easy road. As she has shown in her dealings with debtor nations With Vladimir Putin's menacing ambitions, and now with the migrant crisis. Leadership is only hard when people don't want to follow. If we're asking more of our country than most politicians would dare, if we're standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience, and for providing ambitious moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply. Angela Merkel is Time's person of the year. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4155086/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-ellen-degeneres-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4155086/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-ellen-degeneres-show/"},"headline":"Ellen DeGeneres Is Bummed She Wasn’t Person of the Year","datePublished":"2015-12-18T19:12:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:52.744Z","description":"She tried to outshine it with 'Ellen Magazine's Person of the Year'","url":"https://time.com/4155086/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-ellen-degeneres-show/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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