Laura Dern is reflecting on her status as a gay icon.
Dern was featured on the Las Culturistas podcast, hosted by comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, on Wednesday, Feb. 11. During the episode, she discussed her role in helping Ellen DeGeneres come out publicly.
In the 1997 episode, “The Puppy Episode,” of the sitcomEllen, DeGeneres’ character, Ellen Morgan, comes out as a lesbian. Dern played Susan, a woman Ellen had a crush on.
Dern discussed with Yang and Rogers how the reaction to the historic episode was not as positive as they had hoped at the time. Dern revealed that they had even received bomb threats.
“The assumption is you’re gonna do this thing and, thank god, people will wake up, love their relatives and their neighbors, see them. Everything will expand. Culture will catch up, and it will be a beautiful celebration. The world went, ‘No. No. No,” she said.
However, the impact of Ellen coming out publicly was not lost on Dern. During the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards, The Gay’s Men’s Choir of Los Angeles performed a song dedicated to Dern as a “gay icon.”
“I had a couple of people, part of the Gay Men’s Choir of Los Angeles, come up and go, like, ‘I was a kid who didn’t even know what was going on. I saw that episode.’ And you go, oh, right. That’s why you want culture to catch up later. That is culture. Culture’s doing it when nobody’s caught up,” she told Yang and Rogers.
Dern also reflected on being able to support her friend during such a pivotal moment in their life and career.
“Being part of that moment with Ellen, it wasn’t that I was somebody supporting an actor or a friend by being part of the show. It makes me emotional, but I was holding her hands as they were shaking. And she was looking in my eyes, saying for the first time, ‘I’m gay,’ out loud with people watching. And the privilege, the luxury of feeling it for someone in a moment was so beautiful,” she said.
She added, “It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Watching someone do that for themselves and for their community and for their lives, it’s amazing.”
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This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
