A woman has taken Ellen DeGeneres to court in a car accident negligence lawsuit, requesting a jury trial. The plaintiff alleges that on October 16, 2023, in Santa Barbara County, DeGeneres ran a stop sign and T-boned her vehicle, resulting in "multiple serious personal injuries and damages." The suit, filed in September 2025, will now proceed to a jury trial, confirmed in a December 15 court filing, despite initially being designated as a non-jury trial. The filing also notes that mediation took place on December 9.
DeGeneres, who resides in the UK with her wife Portia de Rossi, has not yet been served as the court will use the Hague Convention to send the complaint internationally. The complaint further asserts that the plaintiff had stopped at the stop sign and checked for oncoming traffic before DeGeneres' vehicle collided with hers.
The filing alleges that DeGeneres "entered the intersection without stopping" and acted negligently, failing to meet the standard of a "reasonable person," which contributed to the crash. The plaintiff also claims that the collision has caused significant income and business loss, emotional distress, anxiety, and a "loss of enjoyment of life."
DeGeneres, who relocated to the Cotswolds with de Rossi in fall 2024, sold her California home and recently moved to a larger property in the UK to accommodate de Rossi's horses.
