Rosie O'Donnell Reveals The Insult She 'Never Really Got Over' And Her Awkward Relationship With Ellen DeGeneres
Sept. 17 2022, Published 12:38 p.m. ET
Rosie O'Donnell is spilling the tea! On the Thursday, September 15, episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the former talk show host revealed details on her strange relationship with Ellen DeGeneres and the comment that truly hurt her feelings.
While reading fan questions, Cohen asked O'Donnell why she had never been a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show despite the sitcom star famously appearing on the Rosie O'Donnell Show in 1996.
"We had a little bit of a weird thing," she replied. "After my show went off the air and hers was coming on the air, Larry King was on with Ellen and he said, ‘Whatever happened to Rosie O’Donnell? Her show went down the tubes. She came out as a lesbian and disappeared!’ And Ellen said, and I’m quoting, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.'"
The 60-year-old candidly confessed that she couldn't shake the biting comments from both King and the Finding Nemo voice actress, noting that she even opened up about it to her ex-wife Kelli Carpenter after it happened.
"I was in bed with Kelli, and I said, ‘Did I just hear that or was that a hallucination, auditory voice in my [head]?’" she recalled. "It hurt my feelings, like a baby, and I never really got over it."
The Flintstones actress admitted that she was eventually invited to be a guest on the popular, daytime chat-fest before the show ended earlier this year. However, the staff refused to allow her to bring someone with her to make the experience "less awkward," so O'Donnell never made an appearance.
Despite the presumed tension between the two, O'Donnell assured Cohen that she wished her "all the good things in her life and that she should be well."
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As Radar previously reported, the Ellen DeGeneres Show ended after 19 seasons following a scandal in which staffers and celebrity guests accused the 64-year-old of creating a toxic workplace. Despite the public backlash, DeGeneres is determined to move on from the drama.
"I was really emotional, even though it was my choice, and it’s the right choice," she said of her decision to step away from the show. "There was a lot that happened during that time that was unfortunate but it is what it is — you go through stuff in life and you just keep learning and growing."
