Ellen DeGeneres Thanks Bill O'Reilly for Defending Her in JCPenney Debate

Television personality Ellen DeGeneres thanked "The O'Reilly Factor's" Bill O’Reilly this week after the host blasted critics who demanded DeGeneres be fired as a spokeswoman for JCPenney stores due to her sexual orientation.

After "The Ellen Show" host was announced as the department store's spokesperson, a conservative group known as the "Million Moms" condemned the decision to have a lesbian represent the mega-chain.

Coming to DeGeneres' defense, O’Reilly said he didn't think firing DeGeneres was in keeping with “the spirit of America.”

“What is the difference between a McCarthy era communist blacklist in the 50s and the Million Moms saying, ‘Hey, JCPenney and all you other stores, don’t you hire any gay people, don’t you dare’ What is the difference?” O’Reilly said.

On her show Wednesday, DeGeneres thanked the Fox host saying, "you didn't really make it clear if you were going to shop at JCPenney but if you do you can use my employee discount any time you want."

Watch Ellen below: