She Built A Media Empire On One True Thing: Herself

Adweek media visionary Ellen Degeneres specializes in what the world needs now-authenticity.

- Lisa Granatstein

When you talk to Ellen DeGeneres, what you see is what you get.

Offstage, away from the cameras, Adweek’s Media Visionary is as genuine and thoughtful as the likable persona she’s cultivated during her long, remarkable career as an entertainer, writer, producer, and LGBTQ and animal activist.

Her signature credo is “Be kind to one another” and she has been true to it, despite weathering a devastating backlash right at the height of her initial fame. Following her steady rise as a comedian, DeGeneres headlined HBO stand-up comedy specials, guested on TV shows and, in 1994, landed her eponymous sitcom on ABC. Then, three years later, she made history in 1997 with the simple words, “Yep, I’m Gay” on Time’s cover and shortly thereafter became the first leading character in prime time to come out. America was a very different place 20-plus years ago than it is now, and some tough years followed for DeGeneres, to put it mildly.

But she persisted. She landed a daytime talker, now with a rabid following and in its 16th season, hosted the Emmys and Oscars (and blew up Twitter with her star-studded selfie) and was a judge on American Idol, and along the way scooped up 59 Daytime Emmy Awards, a Prime-time Emmy Award, 20 People’s Choice Awards and the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other accolades. Somehow, DeGeneres finds time to produce several TV shows via her A Very Good Production company, including NBC’s Ellen’s Game of Games, Little Big Shots and ABC’s Splitting Up Together.