A woman is suing Ellen DeGeneres over a car accident and has requested a jury trial in her negligence lawsuit.
The plaintiff alleges that DeGeneres ran a stop sign in Santa Barbara County and “collided” with her vehicle on October 16, 2023. The collision caused “multiple injuries and serious bodily harm.”
The lawsuit, filed in September 2025, will now go to a jury trial, confirmed in a Dec. 15 court filing, although it was originally scheduled as a non-jury trial. The filing also indicated that the mediation took place on December 9.
DeGeneres has not yet been served because she lives in the United Kingdom and the court will use the Hague Convention to send the complaint internationally.
The complaint claims the plaintiff stopped at the stop sign and checked for other cars before DeGeneres’ vehicle struck hers.
The filing alleges that DeGeneres “entered the intersection without stopping” and acted negligently, failing to meet the standards of “a reasonable person,” which contributed to the accident.
The plaintiff also claims the collision caused significant loss of income and business, emotional distress, anxiety and “loss of enjoyment of life.”
DeGeneres, who moved to the Cotswolds with her wife, Portia de Rossi, in the fall of 2024, sold her California home and recently moved to a larger property in the United Kingdom to accommodate de Rossi’s horses.
