Ellen DeGeneres shares #MeToo: 'Hell hath no fury like a woman with a Twitter account'

In the spirit of speaking out against sexual harassment and assault without fear or shame, Ellen DeGeneres shared “#MeToo” on social media Tuesday and again during her show on Thursday. “Hell hath no fury like a woman with a Twitter account,” the comedian said after an impassioned speech about the movement.

“This is not a male thing or a female thing, it is not a Hollywood thing or a political thing. This is a human thing and it happens in the workplace, it happens in families, it happens all over the world and we are all the same. We all want the same thing: we want respect and love and kindness, and if I can have those three things and a new iPhone 10, I will be complete,” DeGeneres said.

“Part of the problem is that from a young age, girls are taught to stay quiet and be nice, and that boys are stronger and somehow we are less than,” she continued. “That is why it is hard for us to speak out — and even when we do speak out, people don’t believe us. But there is power in numbers and good for us, good for everyone speaking out. I want to say thank you to everybody speaking out.”

Alyssa Milano elevated #MeToo on social media in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which exposed decades of alleged sexual harassment and assault from the now-disgraced Hollywood producer (Weinstein has denied allegations of non-consensual sex). Since then, both men and women all over the world have shared their experiences, including Viola Davis, America Ferrera, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ilana Glazer.

DeGeneres isn’t quite sure about the social media etiquette around #MeToo — whether it’s better to “thumbs up” or “sad face” or “heart” a post — but she praised the power of the digital age in shining a light on these issues.

“As hard as this is to talk about, at least we are talking about it,” DeGeneres said. “It’s not like this is a new thing. This has been going on forever and thanks to being connected to social media, we can see it for what it is and that we are not alone, and hopefully the conversation that we are having now will free all of us. If you are a parent, we can break the cycle and teach our little girls and our little boys that girls should be strong, boys should be kind.”

Watch DeGeneres in the clip above.