Ellen DeGeneres cancels four comedy stand-up dates

The tour is set to run until mid-August

US broadcaster and comic Ellen DeGeneres has cancelled four dates on her stand-up comedy tour.

"Unfortunately, the event organiser has had to cancel your event," said a note on Ticketmaster's website, listing shows in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago as the ones affected.

It is unclear why the dates have been dropped as other dates in those cities are still going ahead. The tour is currently scheduled to run until 17 August.

It marks her return to the spotlight two years after the cancellation of the Ellen DeGeneres talk show, after employees accused executive producers over "toxic workplace" claims.

Three producers were fired amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment and DeGeneres apologised on air, but in May 2021 she announced the show would end the following year, after 19 seasons.

'I got kicked out of showbusiness'

In April, she opened the first night of Ellen's Last Stand... Up Tour by saying: "I didn't care what other people thought of me, and I realised... I said that at the height of my popularity".

DeGeneres told the Los Angeles crowd she had been doing lots of gardening since the show ended and collecting chickens as pets - adding that as a former talk show host she appreciated the pressure of having to lay an egg each day.

"What else can I tell you?" she added.

"Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There's no mean people in show business."

The stand-up show will be released on Netflix, which broadcast her previous stand-up gig, Relatable, in 2018.

DeGeneres' TV career began with her popular sitcom Ellen in 1994, in which she played the owner of a book shop.

In her opening gig, she referenced her talk show being cancelled after she came out as gay.

“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business… Eventually they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay," she said.

DeGeneres won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series, for The Puppy Episode from her sitcom Ellen

She also said that having been in the public for so long, the takedown she experienced has "been such a toll on my ego and my-self esteem".

"There's such extremes in this business, people either love you and idolise you or they hate you, and those people somehow are louder," she added.

Her talk show began in 2003 and grew in popularity; in 2016 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

The BBC has contacted DeGeneres' representatives for comment.