Ellen DeGeneres was photographed strolling through Florence with her wife, Portia de Rossi, on Friday as the comedian and former daytime host faces a negligence lawsuit alleging she caused a December 2023 car crash in Santa Barbara County.
The couple were seen walking toward the Ponte Vecchio, with DeGeneres, 67, smiling and linking arms with de Rossi, 52. The sighting came the same day court papers surfaced in which a plaintiff claims DeGeneres struck the side of her Tesla after running a stop sign.
According to court documents reported by TMZ, the plaintiff asserts the crash occurred in December 2023 at an intersection in Santa Barbara County where all approaches had stop signs. The complaint says the plaintiff came to a complete stop, checked for oncoming traffic and proceeded into the intersection, at which point DeGeneres's vehicle struck the side of the plaintiff's car. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages and alleges negligence by DeGeneres.
The Daily Mail reported that it contacted DeGeneres's representative for comment. The filing and the details it contains have not been independently verified by the court through public dockets in the materials reviewed for this article.
DeGeneres, who ended her long-running daytime talk show in 2022 amid widespread reporting of allegations about a toxic workplace, stepped back from regular television appearances and lived in Montecito, California, for a period. The couple have since relocated to England and are reported to be living in the Cotswolds.
Last year, DeGeneres returned to performing stand-up on a tour billed as Ellen's Last Stand...Up; portions of that act were filmed for a Netflix special titled For Your Approval. While promoting the tour she addressed the controversy that shadowed the later years of her show, acknowledging public criticism and saying she felt she had been "kicked out of show business," comments she discussed in an interview with Rolling Stone.
The lawsuit is the latest legal and reputational matter to catch public attention since DeGeneres's high-profile retreat from daily television. The plaintiff's account in the suit focuses on the December 2023 incident and claims injuries from the collision; the documents do not specify the nature or extent of those injuries in detail.
No court date tied to the filing has been publicly reported in the materials reviewed. If the case advances, future filings and any hearings would provide additional detail about the parties' allegations and the defense. Legal experts say fault and damages in motor-vehicle suits typically hinge on traffic evidence, witness statements and, when available, surveillance or vehicle-camera footage.
DeGeneres and de Rossi have maintained a largely private profile since the end of the talk show. Their appearance in Florence marks one of several public outings for the couple this year as they continue to travel and for DeGeneres to perform intermittently.
This report will be updated as additional court records become available or as representatives for the involved parties issue statements.