Actor Ed O'Neill said his row with Married With Children co-star Amanda Bearse was caused by a row over a TV Guide cover.
On his former Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson's podcast, O'Neill explained that his long-running feud with Bearse began because he didn't want to stand up for her when the show was picked for a TV Guide cover, Bearse but did not ask to be there.
“She and David Garrison were neighbors and were told they couldn't be on the cover. Because they had a rule: There could only be so many on the cover,” O’Neill said.
(LR) David Faustino, Katey Sagal, Amanda Bearse and Christina Applegate attend a ceremony honoring Christina Applegate with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 14, 2022.
Emma McIntyre
O'Neill said he refused to ask if she and other cast members could be included because he feared he would be deprived of the opportunity to cover up.
Ferguson asked O'Neill if he wished he could go back in time and stand up for his friend. “Yes, I would have. And I regret that,” O’Neill said.
In an interview with the Archive of American Television in 2013, O'Neill seemed unsure why he and Bearse had been arguing.
“We all get along great,” O'Neill said of the Married With Children cast. “The only one I don't get along with – and I don't think I'm the only one – is Amanda. I'm not sure what happened there because it was wonderful for three years. She was great. I don't know whose fault it was. We just grew apart a bit… Maybe I reminded her of someone she didn't like, an uncle or something.”
He said he felt that Bearse, who was one of the first openly gay actresses in Hollywood, “changed” as she became “more masculine.”
“I have to say, when she started out, she was gay – she'd been gay for a long time – she was more or less the woman in the couple,” O'Neill said. “She was very, very feminine and sweet…The change took place when she was the more masculine of the two…The more masculine she became, the more biting she became. She could grow a tooth, like we always said.”
O'Neill says that when Bearse married her wife, he and David Faustino were left off the invitation list, so he asked her why.
“[She said] “It was a very difficult decision, but I just feel like if me and Becky came into a church in tuxedos and walked down the aisle, you would find it amusing and you and David would giggle and think it was funny.” I said, “Amanda, what's funny about two women in tuxedos going to church?” I started laughing and she said, “See!” And I said, “Well, you know why?” Because damn it “It's funny and I won't be the only one who doesn't think so.” But it was funny. She was wearing a little white tuxedo and I thought that was funny. But in other words, she may not have been wrong to exclude me.”
O'Neill admits that he got into a heated argument with Bearse in which he accused her of not being smart.
“I said, 'You're not very smart, that's your problem.' And she was smart, but in a way she wasn't, because I said, “Look…” She said, “I'm not smart?” And I could just imagine her preparing for that and saying, “I'm smarter than you.” And I said, “No, because I'll tell you why.” I have a button I could press. This button says, “Get rid of Amanda Bearse.” There is no button that says, “Get rid of it, Ed O'Neill.” Your button doesn't work. Mine works.' Well, it was mean to say this: I never intended to press that button, but it was true. I could go to them and say, “I can't work with her.” “I'll go or she will.” Who goes? So that was pretty bad.”
Bearse still appears to be close to her other Married With Children co-stars and showed up to honor Christina Applegate when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022.