Britney Spears might be one of the biggest names in pop music, but Ed O’Neill didn’t recognize her when the self-confessed Modern Family fan stopped him for a photograph. Nowadays Ed O’Neill is best known for his role as Jay Pritchett, the gruff but soft-hearted patriarch on ABC’s sitcom Modern Family. To TV viewers of a certain vintage, he’s better known for playing another sitcom patriarch - the misanthropic Al Bundy on Married…With Children. It’s safe to say Ed O’Neill is something of a sitcom legend.
Princess of pop Britney Spears is, of course, a legend in her own right too. After bursting onto the scene with her 90s pop anthem “…Baby One More Time,” Britney became one of the most profitable and iconic music stars of the new millennium. She’s won a Grammy, a handful of MTV Video Music Awards and has gone platinum several times throughout her 20-year music career. Still, as well-known as Britney is, the pop star apparently isn’t on Ed O’Neill’s radar.
At least that’s the way it seemed when an excited Britney Spears posted a picture on Twitter in March 2015 of her and a nonplussed-looking Ed O’Neill with the caption “Fancy running into this guy! Such a sweetheart!!” Ed O’Neill explained the situation in an interview on Ellen in 2016, clarifying he was at LAX waiting to board a flight when a really nice lady (i.e. Britney) came over to him and said she was a huge fan of Modern Family and asked for a picture.
It wasn’t until Ed O’Neill’s manager called him the next day to inquire what he was doing posing with Britney Spears after her photo got thousands of likes and retweets that he realized who she was. His gaff saw Ed branded a moron by his daughter but being a nice guy, he called Britney’s manager to apologize for not recognizing the star and the rather awkward-looking photo that resulted.
Apparently, his encounter with Britney Spears didn’t compel Ed O’Neill to brush up on his pop starlet knowledge either. A similar incident occurred when he was attending the birthday party of Sarah Hyland who plays his TV granddaughter on Modern Family, and he took a selfie with another music star he didn’t recognize. After sending his daughter the photo to confirm the identity of the mystery lady, Ed O’Neill learned he was posing with none other than Taylor Swift. His daughter didn’t call him a moron that time but did threaten to have him committed for not recognizing one of the biggest pop stars in the world for the second time around.