Ellen DeGeneres has a big surprise for stand-up star diagnosed with terminal cancer


Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
March 21, 2016

Grab some tissues. Ellen DeGeneres has helped make a lifelong dream come true for 32-year-old comedian Quincy Jones, who is suffering from terminal cancer. Earlier this month, Quincy appeared on Ellen's show to share his moving story, revealing that he found out last year he had stage-four cancer, and has only been given a year to live.That tragic diagnosis prompted him to pursue his dream of filming a stand-up special. "I'm at that age where all my friends are having kids and getting married so I had to do some reflecting and I was like what do I have to show for my 32 years on Earth," he said. "Oh, I do comedy, I'm a comedian, why not try and film this special?"

Ellen DeGeneres had an amazing surprise in store for Quincy Jones

His friends got the process rolling with a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that quickly past the original goal, and Ellen joined in by presenting Quincy with a cheque for $10,000. She also implored Netflix or HBO to air the special: "If someone from HBO is watching or somebody from Netflix is watching this guy is hilarious, why don't you air this on HBO, put it on Netflix," she said.This week, the chat show host had an update for the comedian. "Here's the thing, you mentioned last time that you want to do a comedy special," Ellen said. "That's really important for you to do a comedy special.

"...What you don't know, we called the head of HBO. And your people didn't even tell you this, but HBO is going to air your special… All the negotiations have been happening; your people know that, but they kept it from you because we wanted to surprise you.""Oh My God. That's the best surprise. Thank you so much," stunned Quincy said. "Yeah, it's great!" replied Ellen. "HBO was like 'Yes, of course we'll air it.'"She then presented Quincy with another cheque to help fund his show, which is taking place on April 4th at the Teragram Ballroom. "You're going to need money because making a special and producing a special is also very expensive so Shutterfly wants to give you $15,000," she told the shocked comedian.If you'd like to donate to Quincy’s campaign, please click here.

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