Women Affairs

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when writers get up from the table and leave. The show might be going on for Ellen DeGeneres, but as the fifth full day of the Writers Guild of America walkout drew to a close Friday, the prospects for ringing in the New Year with fresh scripted programming continued to diminish. DeGeneres, who took Monday off, then continued to tape her syndicated chatfest, minus a monologue, was back on the air Friday amid an outpouring of dismay from the New York-based WGA East, which vowed to protest when her show tapes in the Big Apple on Nov.19-20 and urged her to stop showing up for work this minute. "On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise," the WGAE said in a statement Friday. "We certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York…We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a...

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres returned to her television show on Tuesday after taking a long weekend to escape a national uproar over an adopted puppy, saying she hoped the drama would not discourage people from adopting pets. DeGeneres, one of the country's best known entertainers, sobbed on television last week as she recounted how an animal rescue group took back a puppy she had adopted but then given to her hairstylist's family without the animal agency's permission. The on-air tears stirred an outpouring of public support, and footage of her begging for the agency to return the dog, Iggy, was replayed endlessly. DeGeneres later made a public appeal for an end to death threats that had been reported against some of those involved. After taking a long weekend to recover from the shaggy-dog tale that went too far, DeGeneres returned to her show on Tuesday saying the reaction to her crying on air had taken her totally by surprise, making headlines from Australia to England. ...

Ellen DeGeneres' doggie dilemma has taken a nasty turn, with the operator of the animal rescue organisation that took the dog away saying she had been deluged with threatening emails and phone calls. The calls got so bad that Marina Batkis said she had to close her business and stay at home. The twisted dog tale began last month when DeGeneres and her partner, Australian actor Portia de Rossi, adopted a cute, black Brussels-Griffon cross named Iggy. Batkis and Vanessa Chekroun co-own Mutts and Moms, the non-profit dog-rescue organisation that gave the dog to DeGeneres and de Rossi. When Iggy was not able to get along with DeGeneres's cats, the couple gave the dog to DeGeneres's hairdresser. Batkis said that violated a written agreement de Rossi had signed, in which she agreed to return the dog to Mutts and Moms if the adoption did not work out. When the agency called DeGeneres to ask about Iggy, she said she found another home for the dog. The agency sent a representative t...