Ellen DeGeneres faces negligence lawsuit

A woman is suing Ellen DeGeneres in a car accident and is asking for a jury trial in her negligence claim.

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

The lawsuit, which was filed in September 2025, will now go to a jury trial, confirmed in a court filing on December 15, although it was initially set up as a non-jury trial. The filing also states that the mediation took place on December 9.

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

The complaint alleges that the plaintiff stopped at a stop sign and checked for another vehicle before DeGeneres’ car hit her.

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

The plaintiff also claims that the conflict caused significant income and business loss, emotional distress, stress, and “loss of enjoyment of life.”

DeGeneres, who moved to the Cotswolds with her wife, Portia de Rossi, in the fall of 2024, sold her house in California and recently moved to a large house in the UK to accommodate de Rossi’s horses.