Comedian Ellen DeGeneres made a call to “be kind to everyone” Monday night after uproar caused by photos of her at a football game with former President George W. Bush, according to Time magazine.
In a video clip shared to Twitter, Degeneres defended herself from social media users who condemned her for being friendly with the conservative former president.
The two were seen sitting next to each other during a Dallas Cowboys game Sunday night, according to Time.
“During the game they showed a shot of George and me laughing together and so people were upset,” Degeneres said in the video. “They thought, why is a gay Hollywood liberal sitting next to a conservative Republican president?”
DeGeneres did receive negative backlash on Twitter Sunday night for appearing with Bush, according to The Washington Post.
“This is a bad look for @TheEllenShow,” Aaron Rupar, a reporter for Vox, tweeted.
Other Twitter users were just confused by the incident.
However, there was just one tweet that Ellen chose to share in her video.
“Ellen and George Bush together makes me have faith in America again,” the tweet read, to which DeGeneres said, “Exactly.”
“Here’s the thing: I’m friends with George W. Bush,” DeGeneres said in the video. “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 that’s OK that we’re all different.”
DeGeneres continued, “Just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them. 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 video explanation has been met with mixed reactions, according to The Washington Post.
“‘Look, I’m too rich for his decisions to really affect me.’ Is what this boils down to,” one person tweeted in response to the video.
Others, however, appreciated DeGeneres’ call for kindness.
“You shouldn’t have to apologize for sitting next to anyone as a guest in a suite,” another person tweeted. “But you did a great job de-escalating the ‘all or nothing’ approach of today’s fringe (on both sides). America is diverse and all people deserve kindness and respect.”