Yahoo Movies Wanda Sykes Says Appearing on Ellen DeGeneres Show Helped Her Parents Accept Her Sexuality
Wanda Sykes is crediting Ellen DeGeneres for helping her come out as a gay woman to her parents.
Sykes, 57, virtually joined Tuesday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she told DeGeneres — who publicly revealed that she is gay back in the 1990s — that her past appearances on the talk show led to her parents accepting her sexuality.
"You know how you're just iconic and the whole community appreciates you," Sykes told DeGeneres, 63. "You took the blow, man. You were the first one to really be out, out like that and it helped so many of us. It normalized things."
"It just helped with my parents having a hard time to deal with it all," The Upshaws actress continued. "And then their friends coming up to them and saying, 'We love Ellen and we love when Wanda is on Ellen.' "
"It makes a difference, you made a big difference," added Sykes to DeGeneres. "Always grateful for what you did."
Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.
Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. Wanda Sykes on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
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After DeGeneres thanked Sykes for her kind words, the actress went on to share an update on her 12-year-old twins Olivia and Lucas, whom she shares with wife Alex (née Niedbalski).
"You can get them a lot of things," said Sykes of what she typically gifts her children. "They don't want any of it. It's like all the things that they ask for I'm like, 'No!' They want phones and we said, 'No, not until you're 13.' Lucas wants Fortnite and we kept saying, 'No, you're not playing that game.' "
Sykes continued, "And now they do the thing of, 'Oh well our friends have it. Our friends play.' And I'm trying to tell them that their friends, that doesn't mean anything to me. If they want to make things happens, the should say things like, 'When Sasha and Malia [Obama] were 12 they got phones,' or 'Sasha and Malia they play Fortnite.' Then maybe I'd go, 'Hmm, let me think about this.' Because I care about that.' "
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Sykes said that her daughter, meanwhile, is very much into makeup.
"But we only let her wear it around the house," Sykes said of Olivia. "She's very fancy at dinner. It's like we should do a red carpet for her coming to dinner. She's all dolled up."
Sykes — who was previously married to music producer Dave Hall from 1991 to 1998 — wed her wife on Oct. 25, 2008. Celebrating their 12th anniversary last fall, Sykes shared a photo from their wedding day on Instagram, writing, "Twelve years! Happy Anniversary ma femme!" Alex, at the time, added: "How do you think we made it to silk?🤣 Happy Anniversary Boo! ❤️ I love you."
Speaking to The New York Times Magazine in 2019, Sykes touched upon the difference between her current marriage and her previous "bad relationship" with Hall.
"I wanted to get away. Like: 'God, there's his stupid face, and he's chewing. Ugh, does he have to breathe? Make him stop breathing,' " she previously told the outlet. "Now I'm in a great relationship, and I'm happy, so my wife's chewing doesn't annoy me."
