Patrick Warburton recalls awkward moment when Ellen DeGeneres confronted him about rejecting her show

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Family Guy’ star Patrick Warburton has opened up on his relationship with Ellen DeGeneres after he turned down an offer for her ‘Ellen’ show.

During his appearance on SiriusXM’s ‘The Spotlight With Jessica Shaw,’ the actor shared that the talk show host was not pleased with his decision.

Patrick Warburton's buzzing career in 1990s

Patrick Warburton had made several appearances in the sitcom that ran from 1994-1998. 

Warburton’s career was rising back then, thanks to performances such as Puddy, Elaine's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) boyfriend, on 'Seinfeld.'

The comedian explained that he was considered the ‘flavor of the month’ and was set to embark on a new journey.

“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, you know, I said I had a conflict, all right? So, that was it,” he admitted.

Warburton shared after two weeks, “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?'” 

He recalled, “And I go, ‘No, Ellen.’ I go, ‘I just had a conflict,’ which she probably sensed was just bulls--- and she walked away,” reports EW.

Warburton did know that he may have to face the consequences beyond the show that he refused. "Knowing [DeGeneres],” he said, he knew he “was never, ever gonna be invited onto her talk show," he said, referring to 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show.'

“She was spurn,” he added. The ‘Ellen’ show was nominated for 10 Emmys and bagged three awards. One of the episodes during 1997, DeGeneres came out as a lesbian which made her the first gay or lesbian lead character on a US network TV show.

Patrick Warburton's strained relationship with Ellen DeGeneres

Patrick Warburton revealed during the podcast that he was "a huge fan" of DeGeneres and her show. "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, adding "She was as good as anybody.”

However, he still couldn't figure out the former host’s reaction on him rejecting the offer. “It was just weird because, you know, 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. 

“You don't expect the star of the show to walk up to you and call you out on your s--- and that's all it was,” he added.

He continued, “And then 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."