In the latest episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show', the 'Finding Nemo' star announces her partnership with payment app Venmo to assist others through the coronavirus crisis.
- Apr 29, 2020
AceShowbiz - Ellen DeGeneres keeps on paying it forward even in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. During the latest home edition of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", the TV host/comedienne surprised many viewers with a generous gift of $250.
Near the end of the Monday, April 27 episode, the 62-year-old announced her partnership with payment app Venmo for its "Venmo It Forward" campaign. Noting that she did this for "some people who need it the most," she said, "Before we go, I want to do something that we have never done before. Right now, we're scrolling names of 100 people across the screen."
As names kept on rolling out on the screen, the wife of Portia de Rossi informed her online audiences, "If you see your name, go check your Venmo account. I'll wait." She added, "So if you just saw your name on the screen, we've already deposited $250 into your Venmo account ... Little surprise for somebody today."
On the reason behind her partnership with Venmo, Ellen acknowledged the difficult time everyone is facing due to the novel pandemic. "We know we're in a scary and uncertain time, and even a few dollars could mean a lot to someone who needs it," she said, adding that "Venmo has been sending payments thanks to people who are helping others affected by COVID-19" over several past weeks.
"We want to keep doing this as often as we can," the "Finding Nemo" star further explained before she encouraged fans and followers to go to her website to "nominate anyone you think could use a little help." She concluded her talk show by asking people to "stay safe and be kind to one another."
This was not the first time Ellen gave back amid the crisis. In mid-April, she and wife Portia delivered boxes of supplies to firefighters in Santa Barbara, California. The latter's company, General Public, also produced thousands of face shields for "hospital workers that will be distributed around Southern Californian hospitals."
