"Laura Dern has reflected on the "crazy" and "incredible" experience of helping Ellen DeGeneres make queer history with her coming out scene on her '90s sitcom Ellen. In April 1997, Marriage Story actress and LGBTQ+ icon Laura Dern joined forces with DeGeneres and other industry heavyweights, including Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore, for a revelatory, two-part episode of DeGeneres' comedy show Ellen. During the episode, entitled "The Puppy Episode", DeGeneres character Ellen Morgan, who was based on the former talk show host, realised that she is a lesbain after connecting with the colleague of a friend. The colleague, named Susan, was played by Dern."
"After initially brushing off Susan's advances, Ellen later tracked her down to the airport and came out as gay. In doing so, DeGeneres' character became the first leading lesbian character on TV. DeGeneres herself became the first lesbian actress to play a leading lesbian character, too. Ellen Morgan's coming out aligned with Ellen DeGeneres' own coming out; she came out as a lesbian during an interview with TIME magazine two weeks prior to "The Puppy Episode" airing."
"During a recent chat with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers on their Las Culturistas podcast, Dern spoke about the "honour" and "privilege" of taking part in the episode. "Back to cultural shifts, you know, obviously we're only going to effect change if we're the first ones," she said, as the trio discussed the advancement of LGBTQ+ representation. "Culture catching up to storytelling for the LGBTQ community had to be a thing when someone would go first," she continued. Palm Royale star Laura Dern, 59, went on to recount being part of "The Puppy Episode" as a "massive moment" for her and general popular culture. However, she said that her and the cast's "assumption" was that people would see the episode, and have their hearts and minds opened to the LGBTQ"
Laura Dern described participating in Ellen's coming-out storyline as "crazy" and "incredible." She joined Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, Demi Moore and others for a two-part 1997 episode titled "The Puppy Episode," in which Dern played Susan, the colleague who prompts Ellen Morgan to realize she is a lesbian. The episode premiered shortly after DeGeneres publicly came out in a TIME interview, making both the character and actress historic firsts as leading lesbian representations on television. Dern called the episode an honour and a privilege, a massive cultural moment created with the hope of opening hearts and minds.
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