Ellen DeGeneres faces social media heat for her 'big balloon' joke on Katy Perry

Ellen DeGeneres is undeniably funny when it comes to facing her guests on her show, her monologues and wishing her friends on social media. But this time many thought she went a bit too far while wishing Katy Perry a happy birthday.

On 25 October, Ellen wished the pop star by sharing a photo in which she was staring at Perry's bosoms with her mouth open as her wife Portia de Rossi bursts into laughter. "Happy birthday, Katy Perry! It's time to bring out the big balloons," she cheekily captioned the photo. Reacting to her tweet, Good Morning Britain's Piers Morgan slammed the daytime talk show host.

Morgan thought the wish was too sexist and wondered what would have happened if a man had wished a woman the same way as DeGeneres did. "If a man made this joke, Ellen would lead the cries of 'SEXIST PIG," tweeted Morgan.

But it wasn't just Morgan who found the tweet offending and called out the multiple Daytime Emmy Award winning show host for her "not so funny" and "tasteless" birthday wish. "How is this acceptable with everything going on in Hollywood? If it was a man he would be blasted. Oh, that's right she is lesbian," a Twitter user wrote.

Her tweet came in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and many thought the remark was uncalled for. "Not appropriate, regardless of gender. I'd be offended if this tweet was about me on my birthday," said another using the hashtag #doublestandard. "I have lost respect for Ellen after seeing this. What a terrible example to set for so many young girls who look up to Ellen. Sad," a third one added. "If a man did this, all hell would break loose. This is a f-ed up double standard," wrote another.

However, some jumped in to speak for Ellen and urged everyone to take the wish in the context of a joke between two good friends. "But Katy & Ellen aren't strangers. I'm sure it would be very different if it was an old white Rep man she doesn't know," one of the talk show host's fans said.