'I Don't Trust This Person', Rosie O'Donnell Confesses About Ellen DeGeneres Years After Their Feud
Legendary comedians and former talk show hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres were once best friends. But their 'mutual respect' soon faded after DeGeneres became famous and claimed on the Larry King Live in 1998 that she did not know O'Donnell by saying, "I don't know her. We're not friends." This was despite sharing years of friendship.
"We supported each other," O'Donnell confessed about their earlier camaraderie. "It's a big transition. But we've had our weirdness in our relationship. If it's jealousy, competition or the fact that she said a mean thing about me once that really hurt my feelings," The Rosie Show host revealed in an exclusive with the Hollywood Reporter.
The classic feud between the two comedians has various shades. O'Donnell confirmed that DeGeneres had appeared on her show in 1996. This was prior to Ellen coming out as gay. O'Donnell tried to help Ellen deal with the personal controversy. Recalling her stance, O'Donnell said - "'Let me not have you standing there by yourself. Let's get a joke in there.' And we sat down and came up with that, 'Oh my God, I love Casey Kasem. Maybe I'm Lebanese.' It became a big thing."
But after Ellen came out publically as gay, she instantly gained wide support and admiration. "It became a strange, 'There can't be two lesbians in this town' kind of a thing," O'Donnell recalled. "Then we each had success and went separate ways." Ironically, O'Donnell was never invited on the longest running talk show - The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ended last year. Rosie mentioned this while appearing on Andy Cohen's late-night show, Watch What Happens Live, in September 2022.
O'Donnell still doesn't trust her former friend and she alleges that she stood with Ellen during her struggling phase. "It just felt like I don't trust this person to be in my world," she added. According to Page Six, Ellen recently reached out with an apology and completely denied about 'avoiding their friendship' on Larry King Live in 1998.
O'Donnell revealed, "She texted me a few weeks ago checking in, seeing how I'm doing, and I asked her how she's surviving not being on TV," referring to The Ellen DeGeneres Show ending in 2022.
When asked about her 1998 statement, O'Donnell revealed, "She wrote, 'I'm really sorry, and I don't remember that.'" The talk show host speculates that DeGeneres contacted her only after watching Andy Cohen's show.
O'Donnell revealed that she still nurses a 'thorn' when it comes to their friendship. Speaking about how close they were, she said, "It would never occur to me to say 'I don't know her' about somebody whose babies I held when they were born." She further added, "I have a picture of her holding my son Parker. I know her mother. I could identify her brother without her in the room."
She also feels hurt about not being invited on Ellen's show. She mentioned, "I asked to go on DeGeneres' show because of something I was promoting, and she said no. And I remember going, 'Seriously?' After she said no that one time, whenever they would ask me to appear on the show, I would say 'no'."
