Patrick Warburton is opening up about an awkward encounter with Ellen DeGeneres… just weeks after the comedienne claimed to be ‘done’ with showbiz.
Like many young actors, Warburton, 59, cut his teeth on guest starring roles for various TV shows like Quantum Leap, Murphy Brown and Northern Exposure.
He also guest-starred on DeGeneres’ sitcom simply entitled Ellen, appearing in three episodes during its second season in 1995.
The actor – who recently opened up about starring on the Australian box office hit The Dish – appeared on Jessica Shaw’s The Spotlight, where he spoke about an awkward encounter with DeGeneres, 66.
After his three guest-starring spots, he was asked to return for another turn, though he turned it down, which clearly didn’t sit well with Ellen.
Patrick Warburton is opening up about an awkward encounter with Ellen DeGeneres … just weeks after the comedienne claimed to be ‘done’ with showbiz
He also guest-starred on DeGeneres’ sitcom simply entitled Ellen, appearing in three episodes during its second season in 1995
After his three guest-starring spots, he was asked to return for another turn, though he turned it down, which clearly didn’t sit well with Ellen
‘They say you’re the flavor of the month, so they keep asking you like, “They want you on this show, they want you on this show,’ so I did a guest spot or two on Ellen,”‘ he began.
‘And then they asked me to come back and do another one and I was just kind of done doing guest spots at that time and it was sort of time to move on and I just said I had a conflict, all right? So, that was it,’ he added.
‘Two weeks later, I’m having lunch at a restaurant called Orso in Beverly Hills with a buddy of mine having lunch and Ellen walks up to the table and she goes, “Too big to do my show now, huh?”‘ Warburton said.
‘I go, “No, Ellen.” I go, “I just had a conflict,” which she probably sensed was just bulls**t and she walked away,’ he said.
‘So it was just interesting, but just sort of knowing her, I realized at that point on, there was a reason why I was never ever gonna be invited on her talk show,’ he said.
Warburton never did appear as a guest on her beloved talk show Ellen, which ran for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022.
He added of the encounter, ‘She was spurned,’ though he insisted he’s still, ‘a huge fan’ of her work.
‘What I recall working on that show was that as far as crowd work and talking, she was just this remarkable comedian, you know, at the very, very top of the game,’ he said.
‘She was as good as anybody, but it was just weird. It was just weird because when you say you have a conflict and you don’t do something, you seem like you’re gonna be fine with that,’ he said.
‘They say you’re the flavor of the month, so they keep asking you like, “They want you on this show, they want you on this show,’ so I did a guest spot or two on Ellen,”‘ he began
‘And then they asked me to come back and do another one and I was just kind of done doing guest spots at that time and it was sort of time to move on and I just said I had a conflict, all right? So, that was it,’ he added
‘You don’t expect the star of the show to walk up to you and call you out on your s**t and that’s all it was,’ he said
‘You don’t expect the star of the show to walk up to you and call you out on your s**t and that’s all it was,’ he said.
‘I always knew, it was like, “Oh, Ellen’s got a great show. It’s a lot of fun. I’ll never be on it,”‘ he admitted.
Warburton would go on to have a recurring role on Seinfeld as mechanic David Putty later in 1995, which helped launch his career.
He most recently reunited with Jerry Seinfeld with a role in his new Netflix movie Unfrosted.
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