Comedian claims DeGeneres would pretend not to know her despite their history working together in the 1980s
Margaret Cho has a bone to pick with Ellen DeGeneres.
During an appearance on "The Kelly Mantle Show" podcast, the stand-up comedian, 56, got candid about DeGeneres' alleged "mean girl" tendencies and explained why she thinks the former talk show host was mean to her throughout "most" of her career.
"It's so weird now, [the] public perception of her is more true to ... she's mean," Cho said of DeGeneres. "She was like a mean girl, kind of, but also she would be real nice."
ELLEN DEGENERES ADMITTED TO GETTING KICKED OUT OF HOLLYWOOD BEFORE FLEEING US
Margaret Cho, left, claimed Ellen DeGeneres demonstrated "mean girl" tendencies throughout her career. (Getty Images)
"I think she always had negative feelings towards me because her girlfriends and wives always liked me. ... There's a kind of woman [who] loves a female comic," Cho added. "But yeah, Ellen was really weird, and not nice to me for most of my career."
Cho said she first crossed paths with DeGeneres "way before her big fame." After opening for her multiple times throughout the 1980s, Cho said DeGeneres would often "act like [they] just met" when they ran into each other years later.
"And I'm like, 'B----, what?' That's weird. We go way back," said Cho.
Cho then described a "weird" scenario in which DeGeneres allegedly "cut" a portion of her show in which David Bowie - who appeared on the daytime talk show in 2004 - praised Cho.
Margaret Cho claimed Ellen DeGeneres would pretend not to know her despite their history. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for GLAAD)
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"It's so creepy and weird, but also, the other thing was, David Bowie had been on the show, and he was so excited that the night before that, I had come to his show wearing this giant Chinese emperor outfit," Cho said. "He was really thrilled about it, and he talked at length about it. And she cut it out of the show, which made me so mad."
"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. You need to know that he was going on and on about your outfit. He loves you,'" she continued.
"I don't know if it was personal, maybe it was for time. But still, I'm gonna take it personally because I decided to," she added.
Representatives for DeGeneres and Cho did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Ellen DeGeneres recalled getting kicked out of show business in her comedy special. (Brooks Kraft)
DeGeneres was rocked by accusations of harboring a toxic workplace at her self-titled program, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," as well as allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior by ousted producers. One producer had also reportedly been at the heart of the complaints of poor workplace culture.
The allegations ultimately led to the end of the show in 2021 after 19 seasons on air. The final episode aired in May 2022.
In her Netflix special, "Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval," DeGeneres addressed being "kicked out of show business."
"The 'be kind' girl wasn't kind — that was the headline," DeGeneres said. "Here's the problem: I am 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."
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Christina Dugan Ramirez is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital.
