Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Ellen DeGeneres is promoting kindness following backlash to her outing with former president George W. Bush.
The 61-year-old television personality spoke out on her show Tuesday after attending a Dallas Cowboys football game with Bush on Sunday.
DeGeneres explained how Charlotte Jones, the daughter of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, invited her and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, to the game. She was seated next to Bush and his wife, former first lady Laura Bush, in the Joneses' private suite.
"During the game, they showed a shot of George and me laughing together," DeGeneres said. "People were upset. They thought, 'Why is a gay Hollywood liberal sitting next to a conservative Republican president?'"
DeGeneres faced heavy backlash online, but shared one tweet that read, "Ellen and George Bush together makes me have faith in America again." She urged people to be kind to "everyone," in spite of differences.
"Here's the thing: I'm friends with George Bush. In fact, I'm friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs that I have," DeGeneres said. "We're all different, and I think that we've forgotten that that's okay that we're all different."
"Just because I don't agree with someone on everything doesn't mean that I'm not going to be friends with them," she added. "When I say be kind to one another, I don't mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone."
DeGeneres also shared her response on Twitter.
"Yes, that was me at the Cowboys game with George W. Bush over the weekend. Here's the whole story," she wrote.
Bush appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for the first time in March 2017.
