Ellen DeGeneres Blacklisted This Comedian From Her Talk Show After Turning Down Role In Her '90s Sitcom
Ellen DeGeneres has been accused of retaliating against a comedian who rejected her sitcom role offer by blacklisting him from her talk show.
The allegation came from "Seinfeld" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events" star Patrick Warburton, who recently discussed DeGeneres' alleged one-sided feud with him on SiriusXM's "The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw."
Back in the '90s, Warburton, now 59, made a guest star appearance on DeGeneres' eponymous ABC sitcom, which ran for five seasons from 1994 to 1998.
He claimed, however, that DeGeneres and her team wanted him to have a bigger role on the show, but he wasn't interested in doing more guest-starring roles.
The actor politely declined the offer and made up an excuse about a scheduling conflict.
"They asked me to come back and do another one, and I was just kind of done doing guest spots at that time," Warburton recalled. "It was sort of time to move on and I just said, 'I had a conflict, all right?' So, that was it."
Warburton initially thought that was the end of it, but he claimed that DeGeneres allegedly got offended by his decision to turn her down.
"Two weeks later, I'm having lunch at a restaurant called Orso in Beverly Hills with a buddy of mine ... and Ellen walks up to the table and she goes, 'Too big to do my show now, huh?' and I go, 'No, Ellen.' I go, 'I just had a conflict,' which she probably sensed was just bulls**t and she walked away," he claimed.
Warburton went on to suggest that this was why DeGeneres never invited him to appear on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" during its 19-season run.
"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 added. "She was spurned."
DeGeneres' talk show has since been taken off the air after it was hit with toxic workplace allegations.
The scandal, along with accusations that her kind persona on the show was fake, damaged DeGeneres' reputation.
After taking a break from the spotlight, DeGeneres returned to stand-up comedy last month as she kicked off her farewell tour.
During her July 1 "Ellen's Last Stand...Up" stop, the comedian addressed the allegations and the end of her show, joking, "I got kicked out of show business for being mean."
"Next time, I'll be kicked out for being old," she quipped, according to SFGate. "Old, gay and mean, the triple crown."
She went on to deny the claims, telling the audience that while she can be "demanding and impatient and tough," she's never "mean."
DeGeneres also said that she's quitting Hollywood right after the release of her upcoming Netflix special.
"This is the last time you're going to see me," the comedian said. "After my Netflix special, I'm done."
