The Ellen DeGeneres Show is getting an A-list send off.
E! News has exclusively learned the star-studded guest list set for the popular talk show's 19th and final season, which premieres Monday, Sept. 13. The series will kick off its final premiere where it started: with its first-ever guest, Jennifer Aniston. It will be the Friends alum's 23rd time on the show, proving that she'll always be there for longtime host Ellen DeGeneres.
Another frequent guest set to return for season 19? Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who will appear on show for the 20th time.
Viewers can also expect an interview with Kim Kardashian—her first sit-down since E!'s long-running docuseries Keeping Up With the Kardashians ended. Additional A-list guests slated for the new season include Tiffany Haddish, Imagine Dragons, Melissa McCarthy, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Julianne Moore and Melissa Etheridge.
Fans have been preparing themselves for this fall ever since DeGeneres announced in May that season 19 would be the show's last. DeGeneres shared with The Hollywood Reporter, "When you're a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged—and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore."
Although fans we're blindsided by the news that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be coming to an end, the series' in-house DJ, Stephen "tWitch" Boss revealed that he saw the final season coming. "[Ellen] had announced it three years ago that she signed on for three more years," he explained to E! News in an exclusive interview in June. "So I felt that she was going to stay true to that. It actually didn't come as a surprise because she had already said it, you know?"
The decision came on the heels of an internal investigation into the show amid reports of workplace misconduct that resulted in the ousting of three longtime producers: Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman. The TV host was not accused of any wrongdoing, but she went on to address the situation with her staff in July 2020.
"On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness—no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect," she said in a letter to her employees. "Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case."
DeGeneres added that she was "committed to ensuring this does not happen again."
Similar to her promise in May to make every day of season 19 "a celebration," E! News has learned that throughout the final season, DeGeneres and her team plan to thank the fans who've shown their love and support over these almost 20 years.
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