Celebrity WATCH: Even Britney Spears Gets Starstruck! Ed O'Neill Reveals He Didn't Recognize the Singer When She Asked for Airport Fan Photo "'My daughter, Sophia, she said, 'You are a moron,'" the Modern Family star said of not recognizing the pop icon By Jeff Nelson Jeff Nelson Instagram Twitter Jeff Nelson is the Senior News Editor, Entertainment at PEOPLE. For nearly a decade, he has worked across the brand's entertainment verticals, reporting on breaking news and writing and editing across platforms, as well as securing A-list cover exclusives, including Barry Manilow's coming out and an at-home interview with Madonna. Jeff has appeared as an expert on Good Morning America, Extra, HLN and SiriusXM, as well as at RuPaul's DragCon as a moderator. He studied magazine journalism at Drake University, graduating with a B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication. People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 13, 2016 08:10 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Twitter Britney Spears is used to constant attention, but the tables turned when she ran into Ed O'Neill at the airport last spring. "I was flying alone to Hawaii. I was waiting for my flight to board," the Modern Family star, 70, told his Finding Dory costar Ellen DeGeneres Monday on her talk show. "They told me the flight was boarding, and I picked up … a little Modern Family hat. I saw a woman approaching me, so I just flopped it on, you know, I was leaving. She came up and said, 'Oh, Mr. O'Neill, I love Modern Family, and you're my favorite on the show.' And I was like, 'Well, I'm here, and I'm the only one here.'" Sure enough, the Married… with Children vet didn't recognize the 34-year-old pop icon, who asked him for a photo, which eventually got 6,600 (and counting) likes after she tweeted it on March 21, captioning the shot: "Fancy running into this guy! Such a sweetheart!!" And as it turns out, even the Billboard Music Awards' latest Icon Award recipient still gets star-struck, too. "'Could you please … and I know you're in a hurry…'" O'Neill recalled of Spears' fan-girl photo request. "So I said, 'Sure, fine, you know, okay.' So she sat there, and we took it, and I said, 'Have a nice trip. I'm going,'" and I left. So the next day, my manager texts me and goes, 'What is this? 53,000 likes. It's Britney Spears.'" As shocked as The Ellen DeGeneres Show host was surprised to hear O'Neill didn't identify the singer, the actor maintained his ignorance. "I mean, look at my face: Do I look like I'm sitting with Britney Spears?" O'Neill joked. "You know, my daughter, Sophia, she said, 'You are a moron.'"