Martin Short Once Had A Messy Confrontation With Lucille Ball In Public

Two of the most beloved stars of any age are Lucille Ball and Martin Short, which makes it all the more shocking that their one interaction had them at each other's throats. Ball, best remembered for the timeless sitcom "I Love Lucy" (which almost killed her)," was one of the funniest people to ever appear on TV. Meanwhile, Short has been a standout star since his early days on SCTV when his character, Ed Grimley, stole the show, though "Law & Order: SVU" fans may know him best as Sebastian Ballentine. 

The interaction between Short and Ball started as a dream come true for the "Innerspace" star. But it quickly turned into the kind of name-dropping story his "Only Murders in the Building" character, Oliver Putnam, would randomly interject with in the middle of an investigation. As he explained to Conan O'Brien, Short, still early in his career, found himself sitting behind Ball on a first-class flight from Los Angeles to New York. In the middle of the flight, Ball turned to Short, who was excited at the idea that the icon would recognize him. In reality, she wanted to scold the up-and-coming comedian. 

Ball told Short to stop kicking the back of her seat, which took him by surprise. While Short is known for his high-energy performances in movies like "Three Amigos," he also lives up to his namesake and is not a tall man, standing just 5 feet, 6 inches. According to Short, his diminutive stature — and the space between the seats in a 1980s first-class flight — made it essentially impossible for him to kick the seat in front of him without exerting a lot of effort. He chose to let it go, but the Queen of Comedy had more to say.

Minutes after the initial confrontation, Lucille Ball once again turned to Martin Short and demanded that he stop kicking the back of her seat. Short, telling the tale to Conan O'Brien, swore that he had done no such thing, but the story wasn't over yet. Minutes after the second confrontation, a flight attendant came to Short and, indicating that they were there on behalf of Ball, asked him to "keep it down." Short, tired of being blamed for things he wasn't doing, finally spoke up, loudly declaring, "I know where that's coming from. It's coming from the couple in front, and they have been obnoxious since the start of this flight!"

This, as it turned out, was the last straw for Ball, who stood up and yelled at Short. Short, finding himself being yelled at by a living legend, was understandably scared, but he stood up for himself, pointing at Ball and telling her that she was "out of control." At that moment, Ball called for her travel companion, whom Short calls "Barry." The man, according to Short, stood up, looked at him, and said, "What are you pointing at, little boy," before grabbing at Short's finger. 

At that point, the flight attendant asked Short and his friend to move their seats, and in return they would get a free bottle of wine (which was free in first class anyway), bringing a muted end to the confrontation. In the time since the encounter, Short's friend has apparently taken Ball's side, saying that while Short wasn't kicking the chair, they were being loud. "When you think of it, you're pretty obnoxious," he apparently said. "I bet she had a point."