Dakota Johnson Breaks Silence on Controversial Ellen Show Clash That Shocked Viewers

Have you ever fantasized about telling a famous talk show host to their face that they’ve made up a sappy, passive-aggressive story—live on daytime TV? For most of us, that’s the stuff of fever dreams and awkward shower replays, but for Dakota Johnson, it’s just another Tuesday. I mean, sure, we all know she’s got that born-with-it, not-mad-just-direct, bone-dry honesty—she literally admitted she hadn’t even watched her own Marvel flop AND called filming The Office “the worst time” of her life (as one does) . But nothing, and I mean nothing, rivals that viral detonation known simply as “birthday party gate.”

You remember it. 2019, Ellen, a smile that’s doing a little too much heavy lifting, and Dakota coolly torching a daytime legend with, “That’s not the truth.” Decades of Google shenanigans haven’t prepped me for a meme moment this juicy—it’s cringe, it’s iconic, and it weirdly makes me wonder which egos are really the most fragile on Hollywood Boulevard. If you’ve ever been scapegoated at a friend’s event (“I thought you weren’t coming!”), Dakota is your accidental hero . And get this, she claims that whole exchange still “haunts” her.

So, what happens when candor takes down daytime TV royalty, and the internet immortalizes it forever? Oh, it’s delicious . LEARN MORE

In the list of celebrities known for being pretty blunt and candid during interviews, Dakota Johnson is up there with the toppers.

From admitting she hadn’t watched the Marvel flop Madame Web to saying filming a minor role for The Office was ‘the worst time of her life’, nothing quite comes close to birthday party gate.

Johnson ended up causing the ‘most awkward Ellen moment ever’ when she called out the talk show host in front of a live audience.

You know exactly what I’m talking about; that viral 2019 appearance when Ellen DeGeneres tried to pull out the tiny violin and claim that she hadn’t been invited to the Fifty Shades of Grey star’s birthday party.

But Johnson wasn’t having that and hit right back at the comedian, having since responded to the now legendary meme moment which she says ‘haunts’ her.

The actor had recently celebrated her 30^th birthday with major names like Miley Cyrus and Robert Downey Jr. as DeGeneres asked: “How was the party? I wasn’t invited.”

But she was quickly corrected as Johnson said that was ‘not the truth’ as she’d purposely gone about inviting the host.

“Last time I was on the show last year, you gave me a bunch of s**t about not inviting you, but I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited,” she said. “I didn’t even know you liked me!”

DeGeneres even asked if the actor ‘was sure’ the invite had even been sent as Johnson continued: “Ask everybody. Ask Jonathon, your producer. But I did invite you, and you didn’t come.”

The host backtracked as she awkwardly went on to say: “I was invited? Why didn’t I go? Oh yeah, I had that thing! It was probably in Malibu, that’s too far for me to go to.

“I think I do remember I was invited – thank you!”

The whole exchange went viral and has stood the test of time, with Drew Barrymore bringing it up in 2021.

Never forget (NBC)

Johnson was appearing on her show as she explained that Jimmy Kimmel was one of her neighbours.

She joked that although she really gets on with the people she lives adjacent to, they ‘have a lot of parties and they don’t invite her’… you can see where this could go, right?

Barrymore of course took the opportunity to revisit the DeGeneres chat as she asked: “Is this for real? Because, you know, people have gotten in trouble for claiming [to not be] invited to your parties.”

Johnson simply responded by saying, ‘Oh my gosh’, before sharing a sneaky look with Barrymore.

“That was amazing, by the way,” Barrymore added.“Like, amazing.”

During an interview with L’Officiel last year, Johnson added of the infamous moment: “It will haunt me.”