Ellen DeGeneres’ new — and possibly final — comedy special is now streaming on Netflix, and yes, she does talk about the controversy surrounding her alleged toxic behavior on set. But she doesn’t apologize for said behavior again.

In 2020, the comedian became the center of a Buzzfeed News report that claimed the talk show fostered a toxic work environment. That report led to an internal investigation by Warner Bros. and the removal of three executive producers and one co-executive producer. DeGeneres publicly apologized for the workplace culture during the Season 18 premiere of her show and vowed to take steps to change it, but the series ended in 2022.

In her newest hour, titled “For Your Approval,” the former talk show host makes a point to address it pretty close to the top of the show, as she’s recapping what she’s been up to since ending the long-running show. She first tells the audience that she got some chickens, cooing about how much she loves them, before racking her brain for what else has been going on.

Pulling a crumpled list out of her pocket, she “suddenly” remembers.

“Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business,” DeGeneres says with a laugh. “Yeah, ’cause I’m mean. Yeah. You can’t be mean and be in show business. No, they’ll kick you out. No mean people in show business. I’m out.”

The comedian then marvels at both the reach and longevity of the stories about her behavior, noting that “Everywhere I go, I know everyone’s heard that I’m mean. I know when I walk into a restaurant, people are watching, waiting to see if I’ll be mean.”

DeGeneres also recalls the moment when the story hit her own feed, saying the headline she first saw was “How Ellen DeGeneres Became the Most Hated Person in America.”

“It’s a horrible thing to say about somebody, and to make it worse, there was no trophy, no awards banquet, nothing,” she jokes. “Just the title. Just, you know, I made a sash at home and I wore that around just to feel like I had something, you know?”

The former host admits it was “quite a shock” for her to see, especially because there had been so many previous stories praising her personality, and even some polls dubbing her the most trustworthy celebrity in the country. She also admits that it did take a toll on her.

“I was in therapy for a while, trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me, and it was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with,” she explains.

“At one point my therapist said ‘Ellen, where do you get this idea that everyone hates you?’ And I said ‘Well, um, New York Times, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, I think Elmo may have said something recently on an episode of ‘Sesame Street.’”

That said, DeGeneres does not apologize for her behavior in the special. Instead, she goes into detail about how deciding to end every episode of her show by saying “be kind to one another” unintentionally created a box for her.

“I became a brand, a one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced every day up steps. Do you know how hard it was to dance up steps?” she jokes. “Would a mean person dance up steps? I don’t think so. Had I ended my show by saying ‘Go f— yourselves,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”

She also notes that she never wanted to be anyone’s boss, so when she actually became one because of the show, she was “a very immature boss.”

“I didn’t go to business school, I went to Charlie’s Chuckle Hut. I mean it looked like I was the boss,” she says. “The show was called ‘Ellen’ and everybody’s wearing t-shirts that said ‘Ellen,’ and there were buildings all over the Warner Bros. lot that said ‘Ellen.’ But I don’t think that meant that I should be in charge. Like, I don’t think that Ronald McDonald’s the CEO of McDonald’s.”

DeGeneres also goes on to point out double standards for men and women, not just in show business, but in life in general.

“We have all these unwritten rules based on gender of acceptable behavior, of who we’re allowed to be, and how we’re allowed to act,” she says. “And if we don’t follow those rules, it makes people uncomfortable. And when people get uncomfortable, there are consequences. For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business.”

The first time she is referring to is, of course, when she publicly came out on television. And yes, she expects to be booted at least one more time in life. Continuing to joke about her behavior, she says “Eventually they’re gonna kick me out a third time for being old. Mean, old and gay, the triple crown.”

“Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval” is now streaming on Netflix.