Elton John Defends Ellen DeGeneres's Friendship With George Bush

Another rich white celebrity has come forward to support the comments Ellen Degeneres made in support of former president George W. Bush.

Sir Elton John spoke with NPR over the weekend to discuss his upcoming memoir, and the topic of Ellen, a long time friend of John’s, came up.

“I admire Ellen for standing up and saying what she said,” he admitted. “George Bush has made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. Ellen DeGeneres has made a lot of mistakes.”

ICYMI, Ellen drew criticism earlier this month when she was seen sitting next to Bush at a sporting event and seeming to engage in conversation and laughter with him. Some people felt betrayed that a prominent LGBTQ celebrity would willingly associate with someone who has been so staunchly opposed to gay rights and also started a way and destroyed millions of lives based on false information.

But what upset people more was when she condescendingly defended her friendship with the ex-president, stating: “I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs I have. We’re all different, and I think we’ve forgotten that’s okay that we’re different.”

While Ellen may be correct that it’s okay to be friends with people who believe different things than you do, and Sir Elton may be correct that each person on the planet has made mistakes, it’s a little wild to equate Bush’s devastating and deadly “mistakes” to a normal person’s.

But he’s not the first to come under fire for saying he admires Ellen’s wishy washy “let’s all just get along” sentiment. Both Reese Witherspoon and Kristen Bell praised Ellen for her remarks, though both have since deleted those social media posts.

As for Sir Elton, he just think it’s important for people to “come together,” adding that they “need to respect people’s views on life.”

It’s a strange thing to say when those views seem to be that some lives aren’t worth respecting.