American celebrity talk-show host and comedian Ellen Degeneres and her actress wife Portia de Rossi have been lighting up social media since the weekend with their unannounced visit to Dubai. However, it seems the media in the United Arab Emirates have been a little confused on how to address the fact that the two female celebrities are married, as being gay is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
Degeneres has been a pioneer for LGBT rights in the United States, coming out publicly as a lesbian in 1997 on her television sitcom. She and de Rossi were married in 2008 but have been together since 2004.
And yet, none of the UAE media mentioned the fact that the duo are married, choosing to skirt the issue entirely.
"We’ll just have to wait to see what the American chat show host Ellen DeGeneres and her friend, Scandal and Arrested Development actress Portia de Rossi, are doing in Dubai."
Of course, we would hope America's favorite lesbians are also friends . . .
"Very little is known about the pair’s visit to the city except that they were invited for dinner by the club’s management."
Hmmm . . . "pair" is a little different than the word "couple."
"The comedienne was joined by actress Portia de Rossi for dinner at the Peruvian place too."
Interesting, another random actress joined her on her vacation . . . Oh wait, that's her wife!
"Best known for hosting her daytime comedy chat show, DeGeneres was spotted with ‘Scandal’ actress Portia de Rossi on Sunday night."
How bizarre, Ellen was "spotted" hanging out with her own wife!
"Tongues were set wagging about Ellen’s appearance in the UAE when she and Portia de Rossi were spotted hopping on a plane from Los Angeles’ LAX airport on Friday."
Here they just neglect to include the marriage detail.
"After the show both stars happily posed for pictures with the performers, before heading back to their hotel."
Do you think they would have said "both stars" if it was Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Hmmm, we wonder.
However, Al Bawaba, which is based in Amman, Jordan, but has an office in Dubai got the full story. Props to them.
"The internet was ablaze yesterday, when TV host and Oscar presenter Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia di Rossi were spotted in departures at Los Angeles' LAX."
Now that wasn't so hard, was it?
The celebrity couple apparently flew from Los Angeles, California, last Friday to attend The Act Dubai in the Shangri-La Hotel on Sunday evening. A source told Ahlan Live "Dinner at The Act is usually around 9pm, but Ellen asked if they could go earlier. The Act’s performers put on a special show especially for them, which they loved.”
Following the dinner and the show, the couple posed for photos with the performers and several fans even managed to grab selfies with the couple.