Ellen DeGeneres, the 58 yr old comedian and Ellen show host received an award on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 as President Obama gave out his last Presidential Medals of Freedom, the highest honor a civilian can receive, recognizing extraordinary contributions to world peace, or other national interests of the United States, or other significant public or private endeavours.
Many star-studded list of 21 recipients including Michael Jordan, Bill and Melinda Gates, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, and Diana Ross - all of whom Obama, according to New York Times that these are the persons who really did helped him in shaping his presidency and touched him in a powerful and personal way.
#halloween Ellen DeGeneres Gets Teary-Eyed As She Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom https://t.co/rV2IsF0mKW #socialdome pic.twitter.com/rfUqME35YY
— Halloween Costumes (@Halloweenpirate) November 23, 2016
As Ellen Degeneres was introduced by the White House aide and praised her courage in blazing a trail for LGBTQ equality, she was teary eyed and felt overwhelmed as the aide cited her decades of activism and contributions to pop culture and even referencing her beloved role in "Finding Nemo." Additionally, he also added "Ellen DeGeneres has showed us that a single individual can make the world a more fun, more open, more loving place, so long as we just keep swimming," referring to DeGeneres's role as Dory in Finding Nemo.
Just keep swimming.@POTUS awards @TheEllenShow the Medal of Freedom → https://t.co/UxFP95dATK pic.twitter.com/tw9qoop8YB — YouTube (@YouTube) November 23, 2016
Meanwhile, Obama offer an affectionate hug to Ellen after giving the medal. Ellen DeGeneres first publicly came out as a lesbian almost two decades ago in the year of 1997. In 2003, she come back on stage with her groundbreaking stand-up special Here and Now, her lovely role in Finding Nemo, and the premiere on her hit daytime talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
