Ellen DeGeneres pauses grieving of longtime producer's death to celebrate Democrat blue wave... after fleeing US for England after Trump win

Ellen DeGeneres paused her grieving from the sudden death of her producer at 52 to celebrate the big midterm elections victory for the Democrats - dubbed the 'blue wave' or even 'blue tsunami'  - on Tuesday after fleeing the US for England.

The 68-year-old former television personality, who was recently criticized for her $5,000 donation, took to Instagram to share a selfie with wife Portia de Rossi as they tagged several liberals who earned election night wins.

Among those tagged were New Hampshire Senator-elect Chris Pappas, Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, Michigan Senator-elect Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, and New Mexico Governor-elect Deb Haaland.

This comes days after the tragic death of The Ellen DeGeneres Show producer Matthew Wright who passed away suddenly at 52.

Wright died in an 'unfathomable tragedy' in Los Angeles on October 30, according to a GoFundMe page created to help his devastated family, with DeGeneres posting a video sobbing as she paid tribute to her former colleague on Monday.

While Wright's official cause of death has not been released, the fundraising page posted an update revealing the nine-time Emmy winner had 'died suddenly but peacefully in his sleep.' 

The update added, 'The sun may have prematurely set for our magical Matty, but his memory lives on in all of the sky’s vibrant colors. He would want everyone to remember his most important rule of living — don’t forget to course it out.

'The light of every room, Matt curated a beautiful life, menu by menu, sunset by sunset, person by person. 

'He will be remembered for being everything everyone loved — sweetly stubborn and stubbornly sweet, persistently curious and curiously persistent, profoundly loving and lovingly profound.'

Meanwhile, it is a bit interesting for DeGeneres to be commenting on US politics as two years ago, she and wife di Rossi - who first wed in 2008 -  fled the country for the English countryside after Trump's 2024 US president election win. 

In July 2025, DeGeneres spoke with broadcaster Richard Bacon as she confirmed Trump was the reason she left as she said: 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, "He got in." And we're like, "We're staying here".'

Speaking of her love for the UK she added: 'It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life. 

'It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.

'We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.'

Her producer's fundraiser has raised more than $94,000 – $5,000 of which was donated by DeGeneres. 

In the wake of his death, DeGeneres posted a crying video tribute saying, 'He was an amazing guy, he was funny, god he made me laugh, he would surprise me with things that he did all the time. 

'He was smart, he was kind, he was part of our show. everyone loved him.'

Tearing up, she continued: 'I loved him and it's just shocking. We were working on a project together that we were supposed to start.

'We're gonna miss him, he is and always will be the glue to our entire family at the Ellen Show.

'I'm so sorry because we lost a good guy. 

'And he and tWitch [the late Stephen Boss, who died by suicide in 2022] were so close. And now he and tWitch are together, dancing and laughing.'

Wright worked on the talk show for 16 years. When the show ended in 2022 amid a storm of controversy over an alleged toxic workplace environment, he wrote: 'How do I even begin to sum up 16 years of my life? 

'I’ve made so many best friends, had so many amazing experiences, met so many heroes of mine and even fell in love thanks to this show.

'I will forever be grateful to @theellenshow for taking a chance on me and changing my life! Here’s to an amazing run!'

Andy Lassner, a fellow EP on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, revealed he had seen Wright just 'hours' before he died.  

He wrote on Instagram: 'These photos were taken Thursday, while we were taping our Halloween show. Matt came by to visit.

'A few hours later, he was gone. We are all in shock. He was a brilliant producer and an even better human being. 

'The way he looked after his mom, flying back and forth from Los Angeles to New York practically every weekend before she died, showed what an incredible son he was.

'My heart breaks for his husband, Justin, his family, and all of us who loved him. I was so lucky to work beside Matt for so many years and to call him my friend. We should have had so much more time with him.'