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Ellen DeGeneres’ image had literally gone to the dogs when an Ohio-based photographer forked over $6,000 to rent a billboard that featured her golden retriever dressed as Ellen in an attempt to grab the attention of The Ellen DeGeneres Show producers and land a spot on the show.
But photographer Madalyn Ruggerio’s plan to get her pooch on Ellen’ show backfired when an attorney with CBS Outdoor forced the billboard company to remove the image, calling it an attempt to trade on the public image of Ellen DeGeneres, according to the LA Times.
The billboard, placed at the Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, featured Ruggerio’s dog Denali clad in a short blond wig, a white shirt with a black tie and a red-checked jacket along with a message that read “Ellen, Denali the Dog Wants to Meet You.”
“She says she likes dogs, so I thought she’d love my dog,” Ruggiero, who makes money as a photographer dressing her dog up and posing him for greeting cards said, according to the LA Times.
Ruggerio said that she has originally planned to feature Denali dressed as Elvis on the billboard that she’d rented for six weeks but that someone at the billboard company advised her to use Ellen’s likeness if she hoped to catch the talk show host’s attention.
All is not lost for Ruggerio however. A CBS Outdoor salesman, Saul Aguilar has vowed to try to get a partial refund for the billboard, which was only up for five days out of the six weeks, and he has vowed to help Ruggerio and Denali get on Ellen’s show, according to the LA Times.
View the photo of Denali dressed as Ellen here.
Image via Getty.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
