Nathan Lane made a joke about hepatitis to Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s 5-year-old son

Jesse Tyler Ferguson had no problem with it Nathan Lane telling an adult joke to his 5-year-old son, Beckett.

Ferguson, 50, said he recently met Lane, 69, and Pamela Adlon to his house for dinner during the latest episode of his “Dinner is for mepodcast. Before the meal, he remembered using Lane’s very famous Disney character, That of the Lion King Timon, as a point of contact for Beckett and son Sullivan, 3, to help spot their approaching guests. (Ferguson shares both of his sons with husband Justin Mikita.)

“[Lane] was in town shooting something and we tried to meet for dinner and it was just easier. I was like, ‘Do you just want me to cook for you? I’ll cook for you.’ And he came along,” the Modern family star explained. “And I thought, ‘You know Nathan, of course. You’ve listened to him, you know his voice from.’ [Timon in] The Lion King.’ So I played ‘Hakuna Matata’ and on the way to school they sang ‘Hakuna Matata’. And I thought, ‘This is Nathan coming to dinner!’”

He continued, “So that night, Nathan comes over with Pam, and Nathan walks in, and my son says, ‘I know who you are!’ He called him ‘Athan.’ ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, I know who you are! You’re from ‘Hakuna Matata’, you’re from Lion King!”

While the Ferguson children were clearly excited, the Only murders in the building star was reportedly less than thrilled to be recognized for any of his previous roles. “Nathan said, ‘Oh god.’ Like he was stopped by a fan in the street,” Ferguson recalled with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Nathan, he’s a five-year-old. Leave it alone!'”

Lane’s response didn’t deter Ferguson’s eldest, however, as Beckett returned shortly afterwards with something hidden behind his back. When he asked Lane to guess what he had, the Birdcage star didn’t hold back.

“He said, ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, guess what I got?’” Ferguson recalled. “And Nathan says, ‘Hepatitis.'”

Despite the joke being aimed more at adults, Ferguson said he wasn’t bothered by Lane’s character.

“I loved him so much because he was just authentically himself,” Ferguson admitted, adding that Lane has indicated that children are not his favorite audience. “He says, ‘I don’t mind kids, but I don’t have a relationship with them either. And I hear an opportunity for a joke and this is what I’m going to give.'”

Lane’s status as Disney royalty has made him a legend for younger generations. The Emmy winner played the role of lovable jungle meerkat Timon in all three original films Lion King films, one half of the film’s comic relief duo Ernie Sabella Nathan Lane made a hepatitis joke to the 5-year-old son of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who played the warthog Pumba.

Although there is a lot of children’s humor in each film Lion King – including Pumba’s farting sounds, which came from Sabella trying to make Lane laugh during early morning recording sessions – there was an adult joke that ended up in the film thanks to Lane’s improvisation.

While appearing on an April 2025 episode of SiriusXM Conan O’Brien needs a friend Show, Lane admitted that the scene where Timon puts on a skirt and distracts a group of hyenas came from him “flipping around” in the studio.

“I can’t even remember half of it, but apparently I said, ‘What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?’ for some reason,” Lane recalled the now-famous line. “It must have been a long day. And then they turned it into a song.”

Lane, who publicly came out as gay in 1999, almost expanded his children’s film resume with another classic, 1996. Space jam. However, the Boys and dolls actor claimed during a may 2025 interview with Vanity fair that he was passed over for the role due to homophobia.

“I was told [being gay did] impact on a movie I didn’t really care about: Space jam. I was ready for the role that man came from Seinfeld ended up playing,” Lane said, referring to the role of Michael Jordans publicist where it ultimately went Wayne Knight. “I was ready for that role. Apparently the director saw me as the presenter of the Tony Awards and thought it suggested I was too gay to play the role. So thank God I didn’t have to do that Space jam.”