Rosie ODonnell Says Ellen DeGeneres Hurt My Feelings With This Blunt Remark

September 16, 2022
| No Comments

As the host of her eponymous daytime talk show, Ellen DeGeneres chatted up film and television actors, pop musicians and even heads of state.

Noticeably absent from DeGeneres’ couch during the show’s 19-season run, however, was Rosie O’Donnell. Appearing on “Watch What Happens Live” Thursday, O’Donnell shared the reason she never made an appearance.

“We had a little bit of a weird thing,” she told host Andy Cohen. “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!’”

She continued: “And Ellen said, and I’m quoting, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.’ I was in bed with [my ex-wife] Kelli [Carpenter] and I went, ‘Did I just hear that, or was that a hallucination?’ No, that’s what happened. It hurt my feelings like a baby, and I never really got over it.”

Watch Rosie O’Donnell’s “Watch What Happens Live” appearance below.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/cOD8MyUOZY0?rel=0&enablejsapi=1</div>","type":"video","meta":{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOD8MyUOZY0","type":"video","version":"1.0","title":"What Happened Between Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres? | WWHL","author":"Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6D16zE_mMEm1HVD20WFxA","provider_name":"YouTube","description":"Rosie O’Donnell says she was never a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show during its 20 year run and reveals that she was only asked to come on towards the end. She also says her feelings were hurt when Larry King told Ellen that Rosie’s show went down the tubes after coming out and Ellen said “I don’t know Rosie; we’re not friends.”nn►► Subscribe To WWHL: http://bravo.ly/WWHLSubnnWatch WWHL Sun-Thu 11/10c:nWWHL Website: http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-happens-livenFollow WWHL: https://twitter.com/BravoWWHLnLike WWHL: https://www.facebook.com/WatchWhatHappensLivenWWHL Tumblr: http://bravowwhl.tumblr.com/nn’Watch What Happens: Live’ is Bravo’s late-night, interactive talk show that features guests from the world of entertainment, politics, and pop culture. Hosted by Andy Cohen, the series includes lively debates on everything from fashion, the latest on everyone’s favorite Bravolebrities, and what celebrity is making headlines that week. Past guests who have joined Cohen in the Bravo Clubhouse include Sarah Jessica Parker, Tina Fey, Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Liam Neeson, Kelly Ripa, Jimmy Fallon, Anderson Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Lance Bass.nnWatch More Bravo:nBravo Website: http://www.bravotv.com/nBravo Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/videobybravonFollow Bravo: http://www.twitter.com/bravotvnLike Bravo: https://www.facebook.com/BRAVOnPin Bravo: http://www.pinterest.com/bravobybravonBravo Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/bravotvnBravo Tumblr: http://bravotv.tumblr.com/","thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cOD8MyUOZY0/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"thumbnail_height":720,"cache_age":86400,"options":{"_start":{"label":"Start from","value":"","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s"},"_end":{"label":"End on","value":"","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s"},"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}}},"fullBleed":false,"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"slideshowAd":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"slideshowEndCard":{"scriptTags":[{"attribs":{},"scriptBody":"rn (function(){rn var c = document.getElementById(‘taboola-endslate-thumbnails’);rn c.id += ‘-‘ + Math.round(Math.random()*1e16);rn rn var taboolaParams = {rn loader: "//cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/aol-huffingtonpost/loader.js",rn mode: "thumbnails-b",rn container: c.id,rn placement: "Endslate Thumbnails",rn target_type: "mix"rn };rn rn if (typeof window.modulousQueue === "function") {rn twindow.modulousQueue.add(function(){ doTaboola(taboolaParams); });rn } else {rn tdoTaboola(taboolaParams);rn }rn }());rn"}],"otherHtml":"<div id="taboola-endslate-thumbnails" class="taboola hp-entry-you_may_like"></div><div id="hp-more-gravity"></div>"},"isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isMt":false,"entryId":"632479b5e4b082746be97397","entryTagsList":"ellen-degeneres,rosie-odonnell","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment","subcategories":"queer-voices,women","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065"},"customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":11},"before_you_go_slideshow":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"632479b5e4b082746be97397","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"listicleAdFeatureEnabled":true,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["<div id="ad-inline-1" class="ad-entry_paragraph_1 ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-1"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-1", "entry_paragraph_1", false);rn });rn</script>rn","<div id="ad-inline-2" class="ad-entry_paragraph_3 ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-2"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-2", "entry_paragraph_3", false);rn });rn</script>rn","<div id="ad-inline-infinite" class="ad-repeating_dynamic_display ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-infinite"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-infinite", "repeating_dynamic_display", false);rn });rn</script>rn"],"adCount":0}}”>

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOD8MyUOZY0?rel=0&enablejsapi=1]

O’Donnell’s claim may surprise some fans, given that she and DeGeneres have had similar personal and professional trajectories. Both are daytime TV veterans who got their start on the stand-up comedy circuit before parlaying their talents into successful acting careers.

The two women also used their public platforms to come out as lesbians and went on to become outspoken LGBTQ rights advocates at a time when queer visibility in Hollywood was considerably rarer than it is today.

Interestingly, DeGeneres was a guest on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” in 1996, where she proclaimed herself to be “Lebanese,” a wink at the media speculation regarding her sexuality.

From left: Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell in 2006.
From left: Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell in 2006.

Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images

The interview aired just months before “The Puppy Episode” of the ABC sitcom “Ellen,” in which DeGeneres’ character, Ellen Morgan, came out as gay. DeGeneres herself would do so in an issue of Time magazine published to coincide with the episode.

Interestingly, O’Donnell said producers did eventually invite her to be a guest on DeGeneres’ talk show to promote her Showtime series, “SMILF,” which wrapped in 2019 after two seasons.

“I wanted to bring someone with me because I thought it might be a little less awkward, and they didn’t want to do that,” she said. Still, she harbors no hard feelings toward DeGeneres, adding: “I wish her all good things in her life and that she should be well. So, there you go.”

CELEB GOSSIP