Ellen DeGeneres hosts the 79th Academy Awards as the first openly gay woman

Ellen DeGeneres is no stranger to the camera. She has previously hosted the Grammy and Emmy Awards, and has won the Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Talk Show Host. Ellen publicly revealed her homosexuality on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1997. The public’s response was not as refreshing as Ellen expected, and resulted in her return to stand-up comedy. However, in 2003 she re-established herself as a talk show host on her very own production of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

On this day, February 25th, in 2007, Ellen DeGeneres makes history as the first openly gay woman to host the Academy Awards. Known for her unique way of grabbing an audience’s attention, Ellen was a perfect MC candidate for the 79th Oscar’s Ceremony. This event took place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and its viewers had the pleasure of being entertained by the whimsical mistress of ceremonies.

The 79th Academy Awards was the first in its series with a homosexual host and nominees of multiple ethnicities. It was the first time in history the Oscar’s had a mix of minority candidates with nine blacks, ten Hispanics, and an Asian making it the first ceremony to break traditional norms.