Elton John has said that he supports Ellen DeGeneres’ friendship with George W Bush, because all three of them have “made a lot of mistakes” in life.
DeGeneres came under fire last week after defending a photograph showing her laughing with the former US President at an American football game. On her talk show days later, she confirmed that the pair were friends.
“Unfortunately, what a democracy has become now is that it’s not OK to have different opinions than yours and that is not healthy,” John told NPR yesterday (14 October).
“George Bush has made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. Ellen DeGeneres has made a lot of mistakes,” John continued.
“Yes, there were things that he’s — decisions were made. But they’ve been made by Democratic presidents and Republican presidents [too].
“I admire Ellen for standing up and saying what she did.”
DeGeneres addressed the controversy on her talk show last week, explaining that it’s important to “be kind to everyone”.
“I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have,” she told her audience, adding, “Just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean I’m not going to be friends with them.”
Stars including Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Bell and Gwen Stefani all issued messages of support for DeGeneres’ monologue.
Avengers star Mark Ruffalo, however, rebuked the comments, tweeting that “we can’t even begin to talk about kindness” until Bush is “brought to justice for the crimes of the Iraq War”.
