Ellen DeGeneres faces negligence lawsuit

A woman is suing Ellen DeGeneres over a car accident and has requested a jury trial in her negligence lawsuit. 

The plaintiff claims DeGeneres ran a stop sign in Santa Barbara County and “t-boned” her vehicle on October 16, 2023. The collision caused “multiple serious personal injuries and damages.” 

The lawsuit, filed in September 2025, will now go to a jury trial, confirmed in a December 15 court filing, despite originally being set as a non-jury trial. The filing also stated that mediation took place on December 9. 

DeGeneres has not been served yet as she lives in the UK, and the court will use the Hague Convention to send the complaint internationally.

The complaint claims the plaintiff had stopped at the stop sign and checked for other cars before DeGeneres’ vehicle hit hers.

The filing alleges DeGeneres “entered the intersection without stopping” and acted negligently, failing to meet the standard "of a reasonable person," which contributed to the crash.

The plaintiff also claims the collision caused significant income and business loss, emotional distress, anxiety, and a “loss of enjoyment of life.”

DeGeneres, who relocated to the Cotswolds with her wife, Portia de Rossi, in fall 2024, sold her California home and recently moved to a larger UK property to accommodate de Rossi’s horses.