Ellen DeGeneres Is Being Sued For Making Fun Of A Georgia Woman’s Name


A Georgia woman named Titi Pierce did not find Ellen DeGeneres’ joke about her name funny at all — in fact, she found it so unfunny that she’s hitting the talk show host with a lawsuit. During a “What’s Wrong With These Signs” segment on an episode of Ellen back in February, DeGeneres made a breast joke making fun of Pierce’s name, pronouncing it as “titty pierce” instead of “Tee Tee,” which is how it’s actually pronounced. Now, the real estate agent is suing the comedian for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, misappropriation of likeness and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to KSHB.

“Titty Pierce, sounds like she might have spent some time in that nipple home, I don’t know,” DeGeneres joked after showing a sign from Pierce’s real estate business during the segment. This joke came after another sign that read “Nipple Convalescent Home,” which was unrelated to Pierce.

In the lawsuit filed against Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. last Thursday, Pierce claims she has never been called “titty” in her “35 years of life.” She also says that the show did not blur out her phone number on the original airdate or the rerun on April 15 (it was blurred on a Facebook post), which lead to her receiving “hundreds” of phone calls from viewers during the funeral of one of her family members.

Pierce is an electronics engineer in Warner Robins, Ga., and sells real estate for Coldwell Banker. The Telegraph says Pierce’s mother and a family friend named Pierce “Titi,” which is a Nigerian name meaning “flower.”

(Via KSHB/Yahoo! News)

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