Ellen DeGeneres and Jennifer Aniston Send Heartfelt Message to Oklahoma Tornado Victims, Encourage Red Cross Donations

Daytime gabber and Hollywood A-lister encourage viewers to support disaster relief

By Josh Grossberg May 22, 2013 1:58 PMTags
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Ellen DeGeneres and Jennifer Aniston's hearts go out to those left devastated by Monday's tornadoes in Oklahoma.

The funnylady opened today's Ellen DeGeneres Show by dedicating the episode to the victims of the natural disaster that left at least 24 people dead and more than 200 injured, as she offered up her thoughts and prayers.

"I take all that love and today I give it to everybody in Oklahoma," said DeGeneres. "Before I start, I just wanna say that our thoughts and prayers are with everyone there. But I assume if you're watching, you wanna take a break from the news and laugh for a little while. So, that's what we're gonna do and that's what we try and do every day."

Serving as guest cohost was Aniston, who (after earlier hitting up former Friends costar Matthew Perry for advice on the gig) joined DeGeneres in urging viewers to donate money to the recovery effort.

"Right now, we wanted to send our love to all of the victims of the devastating tornadoes that have affected Texas and Oklahoma. The images are heartbreaking, and we want everyone there to know that we're thinking of you," remarked DeGeneres.

Added the actress: "It is important to do whatever you can to help…you can text the words 'Red Cross' to 90999 and $10 will go to the American Red Cross. Go to the website for more information."

DeGeneres and Aniston also announced that online photo publishing service Shutterfly made a $50,000 donation to the Red Cross as part of heeding that call.