Las Vegas nurse on ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’ for third time
Las Vegas nurse Zully Hernandez is becoming something of a regular on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” with Monday marking her third appearance on the talk show in the past two months.
Following injured Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos’ time on the show, it’s an episode that probably will provide more fuel for conspiracy theorists in light of the recent information vacuum concerning the Oct. 1 shootings.
Hernandez was playing one of the “Ellen”-branded slot machines at the MGM Grand in mid-September when she was surprised by DeGeneres and a film crew. She was so excited, DeGeneres invited her to Burbank, California, to be in the audience for the Oct. 3 show. Hernandez already had left Las Vegas for the taping before the shootings, but she was elevated to guest status that day to talk about them anyway. She and her family were then given a seven-day trip to Fiji.
Campos, who first encountered the Route 91 Harvest festival shooter, abruptly canceled five national television interviews and disappeared, only to turn up days later on “Ellen” in an episode broadcast Oct. 18. The security guard, a key witness to the largest mass shooting in modern American history, granted DeGeneres his only interview. DeGeneres mostly praised him as a hero and never asked about the controversial timeline of events surrounding the shootings.
The filming with Hernandez at the MGM Grand, which like Mandalay Bay, is owned by MGM Resorts International, raised questions about the relationship between the company and DeGeneres.
For his appearance on the show, Campos received Raiders season tickets for their first year in Las Vegas. The show’s philanthropic partner, Shutterfly, donated $25,000 in his name to the Las Vegas Victims Fund set up by Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak.
On Monday’s episode, Hernandez was awarded $1,000 to spend on “Ellen” slot machines, which is sure to raise more than a few eyebrows, although as many Las Vegans know, those machines aren’t limited to MGM properties.
Hernandez also received $25,000 from Shutterfly “to encourage her family to continue to make memories together.”
DeGeneres also made a personal plea for someone to give Hernandez’s husband, a construction worker in another city, a local job so the couple can be reunited.
“Well, there’s gotta be somebody in Vegas that needs construction,” DeGeneres said. “If you are in the Vegas area, and you can give him a job so that they can be together, please get in touch with us.”
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.