Ellen DeGeneres has been going through a tough time personally. The comedian revealed that her mom, Betty, had dementia.
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Following the diagnosis, DeGeneres shared a new photo of her mom. On Instagram, she posted a picture of herself, her family, and her mother. Betty was wheelchair-bound in the photo. You can view the picture here.
DeGeneres captioned the photo, “Merry Christmas.”
One fan wrote, “Sweet mom! She was at every show!! Special relationship!!”
Another wrote, “🙏🏼for your mum..she always made us smile when she was on your show ..Merry Christmas.”
According to In Touch Weekly, DeGeneres got candid about her mother’s dementia diagnosis during a stand-up set. She appeared at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 1
Ellen DeGeneres Gets Personal
“My whole identity used to be wrapped up in that show, and my mother’s identity used to be being Ellen’s mom, and now I don’t have a show, and she doesn’t know she’s my mother,” DeGeneres reportedly told the crowd.
The comedian’s mom has faced health battles in the past. When DeGeneres was just 16, Betty fought breast cancer. Ultimately, she needed a mastectomy to beat the cancer. DeGeneres previously reflected on the cancer battle. She said, “She tried to shield me from it a little bit, but she needed my help with recovery and physical rehabilitation. It bonded us even more.”
The comedian has been upfront about issues in her private life and childhood. For one, she claimed her stepfather abused her sexually during this period. She said, “He told me when she was out of town that he’d felt a lump in her breast and needed to feel my breasts because he didn’t want to upset her, but he needed to feel mine.”
She said she used comedy “to heal my childhood wounds. I thought if I can make people like me, then I’ll be happy.”