Talk show host Ellen Degeneres has been refused access to clips from her own former sitcom. The comedienne asked ABC/Disney bosses to let her show a segment from her old program, which featured a guest appearance from actress Mariska Hargitay - and was told the footage was off limits.

DeGeneres, who hit the headlines a decade ago when she 'came out' as a lesbian on the sitcom and in real life, was hoping to use the clip to show Hargitay when the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star made her debut on the Ellen show on Friday.

"She was a guest star on my original sitcom and it was a hilarious scene... I wanted to show it today... but Disney will not let me have any clips of my show to show, unless we pay a whole lot of money. It was my show... We'd be advertising it, it would help them."

Instead Ellen showed a clip of Hargitay in soap Falcon Crest, acting alongside the late Jane Wyman, who died earlier this week.

-More Ellen Degeneres Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)