Ellen Lee DeGeneres the American stand-up comedienne, and television hostess of the award winning syndicated talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", has announced she will be the 4th judge on the ninth season of American Idol.
She will be replacing Paula Abdul and her role would start only after the auditions.

Many of you know she is an out and proud lesbian woman, now married to her wife Portia de Rossi. They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with 19 guests including their respective mothers. The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage but a subsequent Supreme Court judgement validated it because it occurred before 4 November 2008.