Ellen DeGeneres FaceTimes With Oprah Winfrey About Montecito Mudslides, Fights Back Tears

Ellen DeGeneres FaceTimes Oprah Winfrey
The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The talk show host lives in Montecito, California, and praised the town on Thursday’s show.

Ellen DeGeneres is known for spreading love on her show, but during Thursday’s episode, she asked her fans for some of their good energy.

“This room is always filled with positivity and love and today I really need it,” the visibly upset talk show host said. “Today I need you because there’s a lot going on in my life right now.”

A tearful DeGeneres then opened up about where she lives in Montecito, California, an area that was hit hard by the California wild fires. The small town then was the victim of some incredibly serious mudslides.

“Sunday night, Portia [De Rossi] and I got a call that we were under mandatory evacuation again with most of the community of Montecito,” DeGeneres said. “Again we evacuated because they feared mudslides. After everything we’d been through I think a lot of people thought they were just being overly cautious, but exactly what they feared happened.”

DeGeneres then FaceTimed with Oprah Winfrey, who also has a home in Montecito. Oprah was very serious, simply replying, “I am… here,” when asked how she was doing.

Oprah then described what happened early Monday morning, just hours after she gave her headline-making speech at the Golden Globes.

“The dogs were barking, I wake up and I can’t believe that the sky seems like it’s on fire,” Oprah explained. “It’s 3:47 in the morning.”

At first she thought her property was fine, but after inspection, Oprah learned there was significant damage.

“It wasn’t until I put my boots on and I went outside walking and I realized that everything wasn’t indeed fine,” she said. “All of my neighbors’ homes are gutted… The neighbors out back, their houses are gone.”

Oprah’s home was safe, due to its location on a hill, but many others were damaged.

She remained, however, incredibly positive, adding, “We’re going to come together and we’re going to do what great Americans do all the time. We’re going to help each other.”

On Wednesday, Oprah shared her own video of the devastation. Watch the clip below.

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