Rosie O’Donnell has opened up about the moment that sparked a falling out with her former friend, comedian Ellen DeGeneres.
The comedian, in a recent episode of Mamamia’s “No Filter” podcast, recalled DeGeneres’ 2004 appearance on “Larry King Live” when the host asked her about the “Rosie O’Donnell Show” ending two years prior.
“Ellen said, ‘I don’t know, Rosie. We’re not friends.’ And that was like one of the most painful things that ever happened to me in show business in my life,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell — who left her talk show after six seasons to spend time with her children — said she knew DeGeneres for three decades and had photos of her holding her newborn children.
O’Donnell revealed that she was only asked to go on DeGeneres’ talk show — which shared the same staff and producer as her old show — “long after” it began.
“I did think she was all of a sudden in the position I was in, where she was starting a show and wanted it to be successful and get the money and the accolades that came with it,” the comedian said.
“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, who has brought up the falling out before, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that her former friend reached out to her to apologize.
FILE: (Left to right) Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell appear at the 33rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. O’Donnell said she “felt strongly” about not leaving DeGeneres “out there alone” when she appeared on her talk show in the months prior to her coming out as a lesbian in 1997.
Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images
O’Donnell comments arrived as she looked back on DeGeneres’ sitcom character coming out as a lesbian in 1997, a moment that she described as igniting questions over whether she was gay, too.
O’Donnell recalled having DeGeneres on her talk show several months beforehand, adding that she “felt strongly” that she didn’t want to leave her “out there alone” and refused to pretend that she wasn’t a lesbian, as well.
O’Donnell noted that she agreed with DeGeneres to discuss her character becoming “Lebanese,” coded language she used to reply that she might be “Lebanese,” too.
“Everyone who was gay at home got it because I wouldn’t leave her out there alone, I couldn’t do it,” said O’Donnell, who came out as a lesbian in 2002.
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The comedian said she felt the moment DeGeneres came out could really threaten the success of her Emmy-winning show but her “internal clock” wouldn’t allow her to distance herself from her.
“It was funny because she never really, I didn’t think, appreciated that moment,” O’Donnell said.