Ellen Speaks Out About JCPenney Controversy [VIDEO]

Ellen DeGeneres took time during her show this week to address a call from a conservative group that's urging JCPenney to fire her as the company's spokeswoman because of her sexuality.

Ellen spoke out about the group "One Million Moms" push to have her fired from her role with Penney's because she is gay.  Ellen told her audience its people like this that motivate her.

One Million Moms' website  is urging customers to call the customer service Department at JCPenney to complain about Ellen.  The website states, "Funny that JCPenney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families. More sales will be lost than gained unless they replace their spokesperson quickly."  

Meanwhile, JCPenney is standing by Ellen.  Reuters quotes an email from the company indicating Ellen will remain as a JCPenney spokeswoman.  The email is quoted as saying, "jcpenney stands behind its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres" and added that its announcement of the deal with Ellen sums up the company's view of the popular TV personality.  In that statement on January 25, company president Michael Francis called DeGeneres "one of the most fun and vibrant people in entertainment today, with great warmth and a down-to-earth attitude."