Margaret Cho says Ellen DeGeneres was ‘not nice’ to her for most of her career: ‘It’s so creepy and weird’

Cho recalls opening for DeGeneres in comedy clubs in the 1980s, but says that when she visited her talk show in the 2000s, DeGeneres “would act like we just met.”

Margaret Cho in December 2024; Ellen Degeneres in January 2020.Credit: Olivia Wong/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Margaret Cho won’t be sending Ellen DeGeneres a friendship basket anytime soon.

The comedian says the former talk show host acted as if they were strangers when she’d make appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, despite the fact that they were both working the comedy circuit in their early days in the 1980s.

“Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career,” Cho revealed on a new episode of The Kelly Mantle Show.

She went on to explain how the two knew each other. “I opened for her in the 1980s, when she was a headliner in comedy clubs. Later, when I would do her talk show in the 2000s, she would act like we just met.”

Cho then quipped, “And I’m like, ‘Bitch, what?’ That’s weird. We go way back. It’s so creepy and weird.”

Margaret Cho in 1994.Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

The actress and comic then recalled a specific incident that stuck with her when another guest praised her on DeGeneres’ talk show. Cho had attended a David Bowie concert dressed in what she described as a “Chinese emperor outfit,” and the next day, while visiting the show, the singer complimented her elaborate attire to DeGeneres. However, she learned afterwards that Bowie’s remarks about her during that segment had been edited out for the broadcast.

“The producer, who’s a really good friend of mine, had to call me and tell me, ‘I can’t believe she did this, but she cut it out of the show,’” Cho recalled. “‘But you need to know that he was going on and on about your outfit. God said your name. He loves you.’”

Cho admitted that she wasn’t sure if Bowie’s comments about her impressive look were cut from the show for time or for another reason. “But still — I’m going to take it personally,” she said.

Ellen DeGeneres in 1987.Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Cho briefly addressed her feelings toward DeGeneres on the Hot Takes & Deep Dives podcast in 2020. When asked if she felt a sense of camaraderie with fellow queer comedians who were in the closet in the 1980s, like DeGeneres, Cho replied, “If you’re queer, there’s always a closeness.”

However, when addressing the 2020 scandal over DeGeneres’ alleged toxic behind-the-scenes behavior on her daytime television series, Cho said, “I think she definitely is scary. I’m still scared of Ellen. Everyone should be scared of Ellen.”

Ellen DeGeneres in 2023.Casey Durkin/NBC via Getty

Following apologies to her staff and an internal investigation by WarnerMedia that concluded that there were “deficiencies” in the show’s production, with it eventually parting ways with three producers, DeGeneres chose to end her talk show in 2021 after 19 seasons.

“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.

In her final stand-up special, 2024’s Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, the comedian joked how the toxic workplace allegations got her “kicked out of show business.”

“Yeah, the ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind, that was the headline,” she said. “Here’s the problem: I’m a comedian who got a talk show and I ended the show every day by saying, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go f— yourselves,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”

She later clarified, “I didn’t go into this business for money. It was about healing my childhood wounds. I thought if I could make people happy, then they’ll like me. And if they like me, I’ll feel good about myself. All I can say about that is, thank God for the money.”