Ellen's reaction
The fervour began when this group, known as One Million Moms, posted on their Facebook page: “Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families. More sales will be lost than gained unless they replace their spokesperson quickly.” But JC Penney was also very quick to respond: Ellen Degeneres would remain as their spokeswoman.
The controversy then gained international attention when Ellen decided to talk about the affair during her TV show. Known for her sarcastic sense of humour, the host joked that she was shocked to find out that a group called One Million Moms only has 40,000 followers on Facebook. She then concluded by saying: "Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.”
The American comedian/actress launched her talk show nine years ago and since then the show has won a total of 32 Daytime Emmy Awards. Ellen has even featured in the Time magazine's 100 most influential people, so it is no wonder why JC Penney would want her to be their spokesperson. The department store chain currently has 1,100 stores across the US and registered a turnover of 16.5 billion dollars in 2011, with further details to be announced in May.