Ellen DeGeneres Says Hollywood Turned Their Back On Her When She Came Out Of The Closet

Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Ellen DeGeneres is airing a Halloween special on her show today, and she decided to dress up as Youtube singing sensation Sophia Grace! Ellen said (in a British accent, natch), “Hello, Happy Halloween ... I’m not using any H’s or any pants. This is a new thing for me today. I’m Sophie Grace ... It took four people to get me into to this. One (person) really to put it on and three to keep me from running away. No, it didn't take four. It took one person and a lot of tequila…It's always hard for me to decide what to be each year because I have a few rules, no dresses, no pink and no wigs." Ha!

Ellen also graces the cover of the latest issue of Parade Magazine, and she reveals how difficult it was when she came out of the closet in 1997. "I didn’t work, didn’t have any money. No one [in the business] would even talk to me on the phone," she says. When talking about coming out to her family when she was 18, she recalls, "If anything, it was a shock to me. I’d always known that I had crushes on girls, but I also liked boys -- though I wasn’t drawn to them romantically. For me to get in touch with myself enough to recognize that I was gay, and then not to stay private about it, was a huge step."

Ellen also opened up about why she left the hit series American Idol, and it wasn't because of a reported squabble with Simon Cowell, but rather because of the contestants and their attitudes! Ellen says, "It was disappointing to hear things about the kids, the drama going on. Some of them are not as grateful as you would expect. All of a sudden they have fan mail, millions of people saying they’re great, and some of them just stop appreciating it." Wowzer!