23 May 2001

ellen to host 2001 emmy awards

'Out' actress Ellen DeGeneres is set to host the awards show for the second time.

Ellen DeGeneres will host the 53rd Emmy Awards in LA on September 16, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Ellen DeGeneres
This will be her second time hosting the Emmys. In 1994, she co-hosted the awards show with Patricia Richardson of Home Improvement. While she was openly gay at the time, she had yet to come out on her then-popular TV show Ellen which was axed in 1998 following a ratings drop.

The announcement comes five days after it is confirmed that she will make her prime-time comeback with a brand new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show later this year.

DeGeneres will play a high-powered gay Internet executive who decides to leave behind her fast-track lifestyle and return to her hometown.

She won an Emmy in 1998 as a member of the team that penned The Puppy Episode, in which her character came out as a lesbian in Ellen. She also earned four consecutive Emmy nominations as lead comedy actress for her 1994-98 role in Ellen.

She was also nominated for an Emmy last year as an executive producer of the HBO telefilm If These Walls Could Talk 2 which is a collection of three short lesbian stories.

Nominations for the Emmys will be announced on July 12.