“The biggest blowback … was when they told me Ellen and [then-partner] Anne Heche went to see Chasing Amy, and it was reported that they walked out in the first half hour,” he recalled. “ [We were] like, ‘Well, that’s the most famous lesbian in the world. We just lost her. That means we’re never getting on The Ellen Show .’”

In the documentary 'Chasing Chasing Amy,' Smith recalled lamenting how he felt his 1997 movie 'lost' the approval of 'the most famous lesbian in the world'