By now you’ve probably heard the news that Oprah Winfrey, queen of daytime television, will be quitting her talk show after its 25th season on September 9, 2011. Friends and fans have started reacting to Oprah’s news, including fellow daytime talk show host and co-covergirl on this month’s O magazine, Ellen DeGeneres who had this to say to her studio audience yesterday:

“Hey listen, I’m going to tell you some news you’re going to hear as soon as you go out into the world, when you leave here. Right before I came out here, I got a call from Oprah and she told me that she is announcing that next year will be her last year. It will be her 25th year, and she feels like it’s time for her to stop. I don’t think I could be here without her. I think she has blazed a trail ... She is an amazing woman. She will always be the Queen of Daytime Television, and she also said she is leaving me all of her money. I was like, thanks Oprah, thank you.”

Don’t worry, Ellen — you may not be getting all of Oprah’s money, but the departure of your biggest competitor sure can’t hurt your pocketbook. [via People.com]

For only the second time ever, Oprah is sharing the cover of O Magazine. Ellen DeGeneres shot four covers with Oprah, but this one where Oprah is plugging in her lights is the best. Oh, and the last time Oprah shared her cover, it was with Michelle Obama. Nice company, E!

On yesterday’s episode, Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, talked with Oprah about their careers, living life with compassion, and being the most high-profile lesbian couple in the world. Both Ellen and Portia discuss getting over the anxiety of publicly coming out as a lesbian, which Portia finally faced when she decided to date Ellen. “I faced every one of my fears to do it.” Portia says, “She did this for me, because I felt this overwhelming connection with her and I didn’t want to miss out. The love overcame the fear for me.” Clip above.

Remember when plus-size model Lizzie Miller appeared in Glamour magazine’s September issue and caused a s**t storm of comments and letters and the general outcry of ladymag purveyors saying “Yes! Thank you! Finally!”? We also knew the magazine was planning on shooting a spread of Miller alongside other curvy ladies, including one of our heroines, Crystal Renn, and subscribers got the issue today! (Amelia reports that the photos are really, really pretty.) The crew guested on “Ellen” today and editor-in-chief Cindi Leive announced the magazine is making a commitment to showing more diversity (both in terms of size and ethnicity) in their glossy pages going forward. Only time will tell, but it’s a big step in the right direction, no? And with all the attention the mag is getting, look out for others to jump in on the action. As Cindi observes, ultimately, the fashion industry is about sales. So are magazines. Fine. If money (and people) talking is what it takes to make editors accept that women are sick of size-zero glorification, well, we’ll take it. [Ellen]

“Apparently, there’s a lot of debate going on right now whether I’m qualified or not to be the new judge on ‘American Idol’ ... I’ll tell you right now, how I know I’m going to be a great judge ... I’ve spent my whole life being judged. So I know what it’s like. So I will be kind. I will be compassionate. I will be empathetic, and I will be truthful. I will be an honest judge without being mean. But the things that people are saying…I thought America had moved past this. First, we have the first African American President.  We’ve sworn in our first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. I think ‘American Idol’ is ready for their first blonde judge ... I do.”

— Openly gay Ellen DeGeneres discussing her newest job on her talk show yesterday [via US Weekly]

I have a new favorite genre of daytime television—stars going on talk shows, getting down and dirty about the details of their drug addictions. If you still haven’t seen Oprah’s interview with Whitney Houston last week, please watch now. But today’s contribution to the cannon, Kelly Osbourne on “Ellen” talking about her addiction years, is precious too: “I was so ashamed of myself, I didn’t want to tell my parents,” she said. “My mom was in a relationship with my father for years trying to get him sober and I didn’t want to tell her that now her daughter, too ... I was a full-blown addict by the time we started ‘The Osbournes.’ It was a time when I was suddenly famous, my mom had breast cancer, and my dad almost died in a bike accident. It was a lot for me to handle, and I didn’t handle it very well.”

Last night, VH1 held their annual “Divas” concert, featuring Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, and Jordin Sparks, even though attaching the label “diva” to these gals is questionable. During the show, which coincidentally took place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music right down the road from my apartment, host Paula Abdul made a funny. She dressed up as Ellen DeGeneres, who’s replacing her as a judge on “American Idol” this season, and imitated her dopest dance moves, grooving her way over to a replica of Ellen’s set. “Why y’all staring at me? Can’t a girl try out a new job?” she said. “All kidding aside—nothing but love Ellen. And I wish you the best of luck on the new gig. And you gotta call me if you have any Simon problems because, well, I know him best.”

Yesterday, Jennifer Aniston appeared on “Ellen,” and made the mistake of telling the soon-to-be “American Idol” judge that she’ll be singing and playing the steel drum in “The Goree Girls,” a movie about a group of women in prison who form a country western band and became the Dixie Chicks of their time. So, of course, Ellen prodded her into singing. Turns out, Jennifer was kind of good. Or at least, better than one would have expected. “I would put you through to the next round,” said Ellen. We just wish she’d chimed in for a duet.

I hope everyone is as psyched as I am about Ellen DeGeneres being crowned the new “American Idol” judge. Finally, someone funny on the panel who’ll do way more than pour effusive love over contestants or mercilessly mock them! Sure, I’ll miss Paula’s psychotic behavior, but instead of laughing at Paula, I’ll be laughing with Ellen. I think it’s safe to say that she’ll steal all of Simon, Kara, and Randy’s thunder.

We know Ellen likes to dance, but what does she know about music? A lot, apparently. Here are Ellen’s 10 best musical moments, which prove that she is extremely “Idol”-ready. Like in this clip, where she learns about harmony while Christmas caroling with Britney Spears.

Fox has jut announced that they’ve found a replacement for Paula Abdul on “American Idol.” The new judge who will be sitting alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi? Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen released this statement:

“I’m thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol. I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote. Hopefully I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you. I sit at home and I watch it. … I’m not looking at it in a critical way from the producer’s mind. I’m looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person. I’m going to have a day job and a night job. The times we’re living in ... we’re all doing that.”

So, Fox managed to find someone with greater STAR QUALITY than Abdul, but Ellen also has less—and it hurts to say this—of a musical background. So what do we think of this news? Will it make the show as entertaining? [DListed]

While taping an interview with David Beckham, Ellen decided to add some (posh) spice to her show by surprising him with this spoof of his hot Armani spread. The episode will air later this week, but until then, I will kill time by Photoshopping myself onto half-naked Becks’ pecks. Swoon! [Burbank, CA, 8/31/09]

Give comedians—give them 140 characters and they’ll find a joke that fits. This week in Tweet Beat, Michael Ian Black pretends he’s on “Sesame Street,” Sarah Silverman defends the emoticon, and Ellen saves a bird.

Obviously, we are big Tina Fey, Amy Sedaris, and Aisha Tyler enthusiasts. So we immediately clicked on this Huffington Post poll about 15 of the leading ladies of funny. But—wait—it asks readers to rate the women on their looks? Even HuffPo acknowledges that it’s a “poll of ridiculous proportions.” Sure, these women are beautiful. But it’s their wit, slapstick antics, and all-around hilariousness that stole our hearts. So while we wished they asked, “Who’s the funniest comedienne?” we decided to take a look at the current rankings. What we found may surprise you.

Are you sick of Lady GaGa? We aren’t! Yesterday, the Lady was on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to perform “Poker Face.” Not only was her intro interesting (she starts off sounding like Amy Winehouse and ends up playing the piano while standing on the bench in heels), but her outfit, once again, was exceptional. Her headgear looked like a solar system model, with Lady GaGa’s head as the sun. She paired that with a Britney Spears circa 2001 patchwork denim jumpsuit. Even if you’re not a fan of Lady GaGa’s, you can’t help but appreciate her elaborate costumes.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi beat out Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for the celebrities that moms would trust with their children, according to a poll of 10,000 moms by Parent Dish. Ellen and Portia scored 31 percent, while Jennifer Aniston came in second with 22 percent. Her nemesis, Angelina, got 18 percent, and Oprah Winfrey got 9 percent. The difference in votes between Jennifer and Angelina was probably more of a popularity contest, but I totally get why moms wouldn’t trust Oprah—she probably doesn’t even care for her own dogs.

Ellen seems to be a rather responsible, trustworthy person, so I get why she was chosen, but there are so many others we would have picked to take care of our hypothetical kids. And definitely some we wouldn’t.

Lindsay Lohan went on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” yesterday and dished the dirt on what went down with Samantha Ronson. Supposedly, they’re still besties, but she was caught off guard by their breakup.

It seems the Prop 8 folks have gotten to Portia de Rossi. Ellen DeGeneres’ wife has rethought her position on gay marriage and decided to do some apologizing on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show. Check it out above!

Portia de Rossi was on wife Ellen Degeneres’ show yesterday, the seven month anniversary of their wedding, which, you know, might be ruled as illegal, thanks to Prop 8. Very cute interview, check it out!