In For Your Approval, Ellen DeGeneres doesn't take accountability or show us her mean side

In what she says is the final comedy special of her career, comedian and former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres addresses the controversies that led her away from the public eye in recent years — sort of.

The special, titled Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, released on Netflix last week. It's her first special in 6 years, and it's billed as being "personal" and revealing about what she's been up to since she was "kicked out of show business."

But, to paraphrase Dakota Johnson, is that the truth, Ellen?

Today on Commotion, comedian Ashley Ray and culture critic Niko Stratis join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the special and other big picture questions that still remain about her legacy.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Just strictly from a stand-up point of view, how do you feel about For Your Approval, Ashley?

Ashley: Ellen has not forgotten how to do stand-up. A lot of those big names from the '90s, they reached a level of just, "This is how it is done." She has that level of professionalism. She can do a five-minute bit about chickens flying or parking — just really mundane stuff that wouldn't be out of place at a comedy club in 1999 — and still make it funny.

But there's a shocking lack of awareness of what people might be there to see. She's so defensive throughout most of it, in a room full of people who are just so ready and willing to clap for her. I think when we talk about how she was canceled, really there were so many people who were in support of her, who were like, "She doesn't need to leave her show." But that was really Ellen's response; she was like, "well, if you guys don't like me, I'm going to take my ball and go home." And that's what this special feels like.

Elamin: Niko … it was working for me. At least the first 25 minutes of that special worked really well for me. How did you feel about watching For Your Approval?

Niko: I mean, you sort of go into it knowing the conceit of it. We hear that in the trailer, her saying, "I got kicked out of Hollywood," which isn't true. She got paid $20 million to make the show. No one kicks you out and then sends you a check for $20 million. I want to be kicked out of more stuff if that's how getting kicked out works.

So the whole time I'm watching like, these jokes are OK. They're funny enough. They're not amazing. I'm chuckling and I'm doing the dishes, and I don't really care what's going on, and I'm like, she's going to talk about it eventually. And then she does. And I'm just like, wait, what? It just feels so disconnected because that scene really sort of seamlessly runs into each other. It's like two different things happening at the same time.

Elamin: Niko, I want to know how you felt about the way that Ellen handled these accusations in the special.

Niko: Oh, terribly. I wanted to see if she could have any self-awareness about it at all and be like, "Look, my public perception is like America's babysitter, right? I'm funny, I dance every day, and I have a deejay, and everybody knows it's this fun, lighthearted thing." If that's not who you are off-camera … and if that gets called out or brought to light, you can have some sort of self-awareness about it, being like, "Look, I struggled with it," or whatever. Take a little bit of responsibility. But to immediately shuffle it off and say, "Well, I wasn't the boss just because my name is on the show" — but you were.

You were in a position of power and influence, and that carries some weight. And to just ignore that and make a joke about it and say — like, it is funny to say that Ronald McDonald is not the CEO of McDonald's, but what if he was? Then he would be responsible. Ronald McDonald is not real, but Ellen is real. She had a very real position, and that position got abused, and people suffered from it. To just put all that out to pasture and say, "I'm the real victim here because people were mean to me, so I had to walk away from it and accept this paltry $20 million special."… The whole time I was like, OK, eventually she's going to take some ownership over it. And the fact that she couldn't, I think, speaks volumes.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Ty Callender.