Ellen DeGeneres Faces Backlash For Insensitive Prank On Kim Kardashian

Ellen DeGeneres is no stranger to controversy. The talk show host has often faced criticism from public over her remarks. Recently, she faced backlash from fans over over a prank she played on Kim Kardashian during the Skims founder’s recent appearance on her show.

Ellen, who often pranks famous guests on her show, made Kim her latest target. Ellen presented Kim, a notorious arachnophobe, a terrarium and claimed there was a spider inside. Kim was so spooked by the stunt on The Ellen Show that she walked off stage.

The incident prompted viewers to accuse Ellen of failing to respect her boundaries. Kim sat next to Ellen in front of a live audience, when she revealed that her favorite ever moment on the show was when her mum Kris Jenner fell over after being scared by a zombie back in 2018.

Reflecting on her own recent trip to a haunted house with Andy, one of The Ellen Show’s producers, Kim said, “I like to get scared,” before looking around the studio nervously, anticipating that Ellen might have a prank in store. Ellen reassured the Kardashian, “I’m not gonna scare you,”

However, Ellen then proceeded to say,  “But I do wanna help you get over something, because you’re scared —” Correctly guessing that Ellen was alluding to her fear of spiders, Kim interrupted the host, exclaiming: “No! No, no, no.”

At one point, Kim convinced there was a spider in the plastic tank jumped out of her seat and screamed: “No! No, we’ve been through this before. I don’t care — I don’t care to get over my fear. I don’t care.” Despite Ellen telling Kim ‘it’s not real’, the star said to the audience, “Bye everyone!” and left the stage.

However, fans were unimpressed with Ellen’s antics, with one writing on Twitter, “Why do you think it’s funny to torture others with their fears for your entertainment? I did not find this funny, I felt second hand embarrassment for you. Do better.” While another said, “That is rude. I would have left too. She said stop and no how many times? Ellen knew her fear beforehand and didn’t respect that nor her attempt at stopping her. UNCOOL.”

You can check out a clip from the incident below.

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