Ed O'Neill Shares Story Behind Britney Spears Pic

Imagine: You are sitcom icon Ed O’Neill. You are sitting at a gate at LAX. You are waiting to board a plane that will take you to the Aloha State. When it is finally time to go, you grab the Modern Family knit cap you brought with you (because who likes to be cold on a plane?) and prepare to make your way onto the aircraft. But then, a woman walks up to you. She says she’s a Modern Family fan and politely asks for a photograph. You pose for the picture, board the flight, and that is that. …Or so you think. The next day, your manager asks you about that photo you took at LAX. You learn that the Modern Family fan was not just any Modern Family fan, but the legendary Ms. Britney Spears. And you were none the wiser. Yes, Ed O’Neill met Britney Spears and didn’t know it (h/t Entertainment Weekly).

On Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, host Ellen DeGeneres asked her Finding Dory costar to wax nostalgic about the time he snapped a pic with one of the biggest pop music artists on the planet without realizing it. And share the story is what he did.

“I didn’t know it was her,” the Married... with Children star explained. “I mean, look at the look on my face. Do I look like I’m sitting with Britney Spears?”

O’Neill told DeGeneres that once he found out it was Godney, he contacted her manager and apologized. You can watch him tell the hilarious and delightful yarn here:

Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that terminal! Then again, if I was sitting nearby, there’s a solid chance I’d pull a total Ed O’Neill and not realize either celebrity was in my midst. If there’s one thing I’m really good at when I’m at an airport, it is being too sleepy and/or too stressed out and/or too into the overpriced bag of Bugles I bought at Hudson News to fully process what’s going on around me. (What can I say? I will get lost in a salty snack. Will you hold that against me?)