Ellen DeGeneres has responded to tweets criticizing her after a recent spotting with former U.S. President George Bush at a football game.
DeGeneres and Bush were spotted in Dallas Sunday with their wives, actress Portia de Rossi and former first lady Laura Bush, during the live FOX telecast of the Packers and Cowboys game.
After several photos were tweeted out showing the former president and comedian laughing with one-another, DeGeneres received some push back for talking and watching the game with Bush.
In a video posted to her Twitter late Monday night, DeGeneres said that she and her wife were invited to attend the Dallas Cowboys game by Charlotte Jones, the daughter of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
"We get to sit in this very fancy suite," DeGeneres said. "When we were invited, I was aware that I was going to be surrounded with people from very different views and beliefs. And I'm not talking about politics, I was rooting for the Packers," DeGeneres jokingly said after mentioning she is good friends with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"People were upset. They thought why is a gay Hollywood liberal sitting next to a conservative Republican president," DeGeneres said. "I'm friends with George Bush. In fact, I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs that I have. We're all different and I think we've forgotten that's okay."
DeGeneres used her nearly 4-minute long monologue to recall her saying of "be kind to one another.
"Just because I don't agree with someone on everything doesn't mean that I'm not going to be friends with them, DeGeneres said. "When I say be kind to one another, I don't mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone."
The DeGeneres-Bush relationship isn't anything new. The former President appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2017 where he danced and talked about everything from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the press.
During his appearance Bush mentioned that DeGeneres and Bush's daughter, Today Show host Jenna Bush Hager, are "good buddies."
