More than one year after publicly trading Hollywood life for the English countryside, Ellen DeGeneres seems uncertain about what “simpler living” really means. Fox News reports, the former talk show host, who had widely touted her retreat to a quiet farm in the U.K., recently purchased a $27 million mansion in Montecito — one of California’s most exclusive zip codes. For someone who claimed to be done with American celebrity culture, the extravagant buy has raised eyebrows.
Sources told Fox News Digital that the return to California is “temporary” and that DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, simply wanted to ride out the winter months in a warmer climate. But critics see the back-and-forth as another example of DeGeneres’ inconsistency. After all, the same couple sold their Montecito home in 2024 to settle abroad, citing political disillusionment and a desire for a slower pace.
According to Fox News, DeGeneres, 68, had originally presented the move to the U.K. as a permanent escape following Donald Trump’s 2024 election win, admitting in a BBC interview that she and de Rossi decided to stay in England after “waking up to crying emojis” from friends following Trump’s election victory.
Even fellow comedian Rosie O’Donnell expressed surprise, admitting she was “shocked” to hear politics drove DeGeneres’ decision. “I’ve never really known Ellen to say anything political in her life, so I was surprised to read that she left because of President Trump. Like, that shocked me, actually,” O’Donnell told Us Weekly, according to Fox News. “I’ve been a political person my whole life, not better or worse, it’s just a different way to be in the world.
Despite her insistence that she loves her new rural lifestyle, critics argue DeGeneres’ version of simplicity still looks a lot like privilege — just with better views.