Many people have heard of Taylor Swift. But on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Modern Family star Ed O'Neill told the story of how he failed to recognize the pop singer when he met her at a party.
O'Neill ran into Swift while attending the birthday party of his co-star Sarah Hyland. But after a bit of small talk, the Jay Pritchett character still couldn't identify her.
"I know she's famous, but I can't place her," he told host Ellen DeGeneres, recounting the event.
To solve the mystery, the actor took a selfie with the "End Game" singer and sent it to his daughter Sophia, who was able to identify Swift.
"And she said, 'I'm having you committed,'" he said, summarizing his daughter's words.
Playing it cool, O'Neill was able to drop Swift's name before he headed out for the evening.
"I did say, ‘Nice to meet you, Taylor' when I left the party," he told DeGeneres.
Clearly, O'Neill isn't the best at recognizing celebrities. The Married With Children star also admitted he failed to recognize Britney Spears when she asked for a selfie at the airport. Years ago, he even failed to recognize Randy Jackson at a restaurant. So when the Jackson 5 member asked him to say hi to his brother on the phone, O'Neill had no idea he was speaking to the King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Watch the video to hear him tell the hilarious tale.
In addition to talking about his awkward celebrity encounters, O'Neill talked about the future of Modern Family and what he'd like to do next. He also brought DeGeneres chips, salsa and guacamole to celebrate the host's upcoming 60th birthday.
To see the full episode, tune into today's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show at 3:00 p.m. ET.