Ellen DeGeneres Wins Carol Burnett Award at Golden Globes 2020, and the George Bush Comments Roll in on Twitter

Ellen DeGeneres received a major recognition at the 2020 Golden Globes on Sunday night after winning the Carol Burnett Award. Created in 2018, the award honors excellence in television and was given out in 2019 for the first time to Burnett. However with the honor, many on social media decided to bring up the whole ordeal with George W. Bush.

During a Dallas Cowboys football game, DeGeneres was seen sharing a box with the former president. The issue, which was during a game in October, wasn’t viewed as one by the talk show host as she went on to explain their friendship on Twitter.

“So Portia and I were invited by Charlotte Jones,” she said. “She’s the daughter of Jerry Jones who owns the Dallas Cowboys. And we went because we wanted to keep up with the Joneses.”

The scene created a stir because of Bush’s stance on same-sex marriage. DeGeneres acknowledged that everyone is different and that’s “O.K.”

That’s not to say everyone has put the issue behind them, though.

“It still bugs me that Ellen DeGeneres is good friends with George W Bush, a man who tried to stop gay rights from ever taking place in our country,” one user wrote.

DeGeneres explained the situation in more depth on her show. Shortly after the ordeal began, she talked about how she knew she would be getting some criticism as soon as she accepted the invite.

“During the game, they showed a shot of George and me laughing together, so people were upset. They thought, ‘Why is a gay Hollywood liberal sitting next to a conservative Republican president?’” she continued, addressing the backlash that was largely due to Bush’s anti-LGBTQ views during his presidency. “Didn’t even notice I’m holding the brand new iPhone 11. But a lot of people were mad, and they did what people do when they’re mad: They tweet.”

Many in the industry didn’t take offense to her decision. In fact, Elton John spoke up about the controversy and let it be known that he appreciated DeGeneres rationale.

“I admire Ellen for standing up and saying what she said,” John told the outlet. “George Bush has made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. Ellen DeGeneres has made a lot of mistakes. People need to come together […] They need to respect people’s view on life. Except when it’s heresy, and I don’t think George Bush is that kind of guy.”

The 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony airs live at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.