Rosie O’Donnell Recalls “Painful” Ellen DeGeneres Snub from 2004

In a recent episode of Mamamia’s “No Filter” podcast, Rosie O’Donnell revisited a deeply personal and “painful” moment that strained her friendship with fellow comedian Ellen DeGeneres. O’Donnell recounted DeGeneres’ 2004 appearance on “Larry King Live,” where she was asked about the conclusion of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” 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 disclosed. The two comedians had known each other for three decades, with O’Donnell possessing photos of DeGeneres holding her newborn children.

O’Donnell, who left her talk show after six seasons to prioritize her family, expressed her surprise that she was only invited onto DeGeneres’ talk show—which shared the same staff and producer—“long after” it had launched. She felt DeGeneres, then in a similar position of building a show, chose not to offer the same support O’Donnell had extended to her.

This isn’t the first time O’Donnell has spoken about the rift; she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that DeGeneres eventually reached out to apologize. O’Donnell also reflected on DeGeneres’ groundbreaking 1997 sitcom character coming out as a lesbian, a moment that prompted public speculation about O’Donnell’s own sexuality. She recalled her decision to support DeGeneres by discussing her character becoming “Lebanese” on her show months prior, a coded message understood by the LGBTQ+ community at the time, as she refused to leave DeGeneres “out there alone.” O’Donnell publicly came out as a lesbian in 2002.

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