{"id":6055,"date":"2026-08-17T14:10:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6055"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:10:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:10:43","slug":"rosie-odonnell-was-surprised-by-jimmy-kimmels-guest-hosting-offer-and-believes-a-david-ellison-run-cnn-would-be-tragic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6055","title":{"rendered":"Rosie O\u2019Donnell Was \u2018Surprised\u2019 by Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s Guest-Hosting Offer and Believes a David Ellison-Run CNN Would Be \u2018Tragic\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n<\/p>\n
\n

\nRosie O\u2019Donnell is finally back behind the talk-show desk.<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, the former host of \u201cThe Rosie O\u2019Donnell Show\u201d and \u201cThe View\u201d will be serving as guest host of \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d the week of Aug. 17 while Kimmel is on vacation (as part of his summer rotation). He said he\u2019d tapped O\u2019Donnell for the stint as \u201ca special treat\u201d for Donald Trump, given the president\u2019s 20-year-long vendetta against her for mocking his bankruptcies on \u201cThe View.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Netflix Unveils \u2018The Diplomat\u2019 Season 4 First Look, Sets October Release Date<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tO\u2019Donnell tells Variety <\/em>that the offer \u201ccame out of the blue,\u201d since not only have they never spoken in person, but they had what she describes as an \u201cadversarial relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve never spoken on the phone; we\u2019ve texted a few times. Howard Stern tried to make amends with us, so we\u2019ve been at the same parties a few times and I would talk to his wife. But Jimmy was never a fan of mine, and it was kind of an adversarial relationship \u2014 not that I was fighting back, but I was like, \u2018OK, one of the bro guys\u2026,\u2019\u201d O\u2019Donnell recalls.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut that all changed when O\u2019Donnell reached out to Kimmel following the death of his beloved Uncle Frank Potenza, a former NYPD officer who\u2019d made a number of memorable comedy-sketch appearances on his nephew\u2019s late-night show.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen everything happened with his uncle dying, I wrote him and he wrote back. So, when my publicist called and said, \u2018Do you want to guest-host \u2018Kimmel\u2019 for a week?\u2019 I said, \u2018I haven\u2019t ever even been a guest!\u2019 And then I said, \u2018If you\u2019re positive that that\u2019s an actual offer and he wants me to do it, then I most certainly will,\u2019\u201d says O\u2019Donnell, adding, \u201cI was surprised, to tell you the truth, and very thankful.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother reason O\u2019Donnell took the gig, other than having the opportunity to air out Trump to an audience of millions on ABC, is to support the late-night community amid Trump\u2019s war on TV comedy, one that\u2019s cost Stephen Colbert his \u201cLate Show\u201d and nearly claimed Kimmel as well.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI support [Kimmel] in what he\u2019s doing with the First Amendment, and our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government that\u2019s enshrined in the Founding Fathers\u2019 writings about our government, so I think he\u2019s fantastic,\u201d says O\u2019Donnell. \u201cAnd I wish that Stephen Colbert had the same kind of support when it happened to him, because he shouldn\u2019t be gone either.<\/p>\n

Read more Johnnie To\u2019s English-Language Debut \u2018Two Gun Cohen\u2019 Launches Former XYZ Films Exec Todd Brown\u2019s Rawk Moving Pictures Corp (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAs for the Colbert of it all, and Paramount Skydance owner (and Trump winer-and-diner) David Ellison\u2019s pending takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN, O\u2019Donnell didn\u2019t hold back.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt would be like Fox taking over all news channels. Imagine if Fox was not one outlier and Fox was the mainstay? That\u2019s what\u2019s happening with Hollywood now and the Ellisons, and it\u2019s tragic,\u201d O\u2019Donnell says.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe then pointed to Ellison and Bari Weiss\u2019 right-wing makeover of CBS News and its crown jewel, \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d as an example of what\u2019s to come if Ellison\u2019s $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery is approved.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLook at what\u2019s happened to CBS News and \u201860 Minutes,\u2019 which was the gold star of their entire network, and they blew it up,\u201d claims O\u2019Donnell. \u201cThis Bari Weiss person, I don\u2019t know how she can live with herself. There are people who are sidling up to him and history will record all of their names, what they did, and who they stood next to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tO\u2019Donnell continues, \u201cIf you\u2019re in a room with 10 Nazis at a table and you\u2019re the only one who\u2019s not, there\u2019s a pretty good chance you\u2019re a Nazi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Supporting Role\u2019 Review: Dato Bakhtadze Captivates in a Nocturnal Odyssey Through Tbilisi<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rosie O\u2019Donnell talks guest-hosting \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d despite their \u201cadversarial relationship\u201d and how a David Ellison-run CNN would be \u201ctragic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[925,865,892,413,238,1093,433,3341,4713],"class_list":["post-6055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv","tag-bari-weiss","tag-cbs-news","tag-cnn-2","tag-david-ellison","tag-donald-trump","tag-jimmy-kimmel-2","tag-paramount-skydance","tag-paramount-warner-bros-2","tag-rosie-o-donnell-2"],"yoast_head":"\nRosie O\u2019Donnell Was \u2018Surprised\u2019 by Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s Guest-Hosting Offer and Believes a David Ellison-Run CNN Would Be \u2018Tragic\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rosie O\u2019Donnell Was \u2018Surprised\u2019 by Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s Guest-Hosting Offer and Believes a David Ellison-Run CNN Would Be \u2018Tragic\u2019 - 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