“That was, like, one of the most painful things that ever happened to me, in show business, in my life,” the comedian shares, while also opening up about her reignited feud with Trump.
Rosie O’Donnell is looking back at the moment her friendship with Ellen DeGeneres ended.
During a recent appearance on the No Filter with Kate Langbroek podcast, the actress reflected on the “very painful” betrayal she felt from DeGeneres after she made comments about their friendship, or, according to DeGeneres, lack thereof.
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Back in 2004, DeGeneres appeared on Larry King Live, during which the late host asked her about O’Donnell. In response, DeGeneres claimed she and O’Donnell weren’t friends, and that she didn’t know the latter very well.
“Larry King asked her, and Kelly and I were in bed watching it, he asked her, ‘Whatever happened to Rosie O’Donnell? Her show went down the tubes,” O’Donnell recalled, doing an impression of the late host. “And Ellen said, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.'”
“That was, like, one of the most painful things that ever happened to me, in show business, in my life. I couldn’t believe it,” O’Donnell added, to which Langbroek asked what she believes was behind DeGeneres’ response.
“I don’t know, because I have photos of her holding my newborn babies. I knew her for 30 years,” the comedian replied.
“It was so upsetting to me that I had T-shirts made [that read] ‘I don’t know Rosie, we’re not friends,’ and I gave them out to my staff,” she continued. “It was very painful and we’ve never sort of got over it.’
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According to O’Donnell, DeGeneres has never reached out or apologized.
After Langbroek noted that she’s “not the first person to say this,” but DeGeneres is a “strange creature,” to which O’Donnell chimed in, “We’re not similar. I can say that for sure. We’re not emotionally similar.”
“I was never asked to go on her show,” she said of DeGeneres’ daytime talk show. “When I was, it was long after they had been on for many years. And she had the same staff as my show, the same producers, the same everything. And now I don’t blame her for doing that, I didn’t create the genre of a Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas talk show.”
“But I did think that she was, all of a sudden, in the position I was in, where she was starting a show, and wanting it to be successful, and get the money and the accolades that came with it,” the former talk show host continued. “And instead of deciding to stand next to me and hold my hand, which is what I did to her, she did the opposite. And I couldn’t believe it.”
O’Donnell went on to react to the “troubles” her former colleagues allegedly faced at The Ellen DeGeneres Show, seemingly referring to how former employees claimed the show was a toxic workplace.
“I knew the way she treated me must be the way she treats others,” she told Langbroek. “And I felt very betrayed.”
The Rosie O’Donnell Show alum continued, “I’m now 63 and she’s a few years older than me. I don’t wish her any ill will. But I never could kind of get past it.”
“And a lot of times she has said or written me and said, ‘Why are you still talking about this?'” she claimed. “I didn’t quite know how to answer that. I said, ‘Well, it was profound for me. It was a profound moment.'”
“I would have apologized. I would have said, ‘I’m really sorry I hurt you that much, and I don’t know why I did that, and it was a mistake, and I hope you can forgive me.’ That’s what I would have done,” O’Donnell added. “But I think in her mind, she thinks I keep rehashing it for pleasure. I don’t rehash it for pleasure. I rehash it because our careers have taken sort of parallel, interwoven paths. … We’re gay talk show hosts, and we’re around the same age, so people would always ask me about it, and I have a hard time not telling the truth.”
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Both O’Donnell and DeGeneres moved across the pond amid President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Following her move to Ireland in January, O’Donnell’s past feud with Trump was reignited, with the president even threatening to revoke her citizenship.
During her appearance on the No Filter podcast, O’Donnell detailed her feud with Trump, sharing that she missed her daughter Vivienne’s graduation in May and chose not to attend due to security concerns.
“My daughter graduated college, and I didn’t go back because the security people said to me they didn’t think it was wise,” she said. “Because I think Trump will use me to rile his base.”
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