Washington D.C., June 23: Comedian and actor Margaret Cho has opened up about her difficult professional experiences with Ellen DeGeneres, saying the former talk show host treated her poorly for most of her career, despite their long history together in stand-up comedy.
Speaking on The Kelly Mantle Show, Cho revealed:
“Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career… I opened for her in the 1980s. Later, when I went on her talk show in the 2000s, she acted like we had just met. It was creepy and weird.”
Incident Involving David Bowie Also Cut From Show
Cho also recounted a strange incident involving the late David Bowie, who allegedly praised her outfit—describing her “Chinese emperor” ensemble—during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. However, Cho said the segment was edited out:
“A producer, who’s a close friend, called me to say, ‘I can’t believe she did this, but she cut it out of the show.’”
On Ellen’s Alleged Workplace Behavior
This isn’t the first time Cho has commented on DeGeneres. In 2020, during the height of the toxic workplace allegations against The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Cho told the Hot Takes & Deep Dives podcast:
“I think she definitely is scary. I’m still scared of Ellen. Everyone should be.”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show ended in 2022 after 19 seasons, following widespread reports of toxic workplace culture and staff mistreatment.