In 2022, we said goodbye to The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003-22) after almost 20 years. Comedian and host Ellen DeGeneres has had countless guests on her show over the years, some even multiple times. However, a celebrity and talk show host has been snubbed – and you’ll never guess why!
Rosie O’Donnell has set the record straight Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (2009-present) in September 2022. While speaking with host Andy Cohen, O’Donnell shared that she and DeGeneres “had a weird little thing.”
What happened to Ellen?
O’Donnell’s talk show, The Rosie O’Donnell Showfirst aired in 1996 and released nearly 1,200 episodes until filming wrapped in 2002. The following year, DeGeneres began her talk show journey with The Ellen DeGeneres Showafter his sitcom, Ellen (1994-98), was cancelled.
DeGeneres has become a breakout star, thanks to her first show. She also made television history with “The Puppy Episode,” a two-parter episode of Ellen first broadcast in 1997. In it, her character, Ellen Morgan, appears as a lesbian. Meanwhile, real-life Ellen also confirmed that “yes, I’m gay” and discussed his sexuality on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The Ellen episode was a huge hit, even reaching number 35 on tv guideThe list of the 100 greatest episodes of all time. DeGeneres’ exit was monumental for LGBTQ+ representation at a time when homosexuality was often not included in the media.
On the side of Rosie O’Donnell
In 2002, Rosie O’Donnell also came out as a lesbian during a set at Caroline’s Comedy Club in New York. With so much in common, you’d think DeGeneres and O’Donnell would have connected over their comedy careers. However, O’Donnell claims that is not the case.
O’Donnell explained, “After my show went off the air and his show went on, Larry King was with Ellen and he said, ‘What happened to Rosie O’Donnell? His show hit the charts. She became a lesbian and disappeared. And Ellen said, and I quote, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.'”
It came as a shock to O’Donnell, who had hosted DeGeneres on The Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1996. During the episode, DeGeneres coldly addressed gossip regarding her sexuality, joking about her character Ellen would come out as “Lebanese”. The episode aired a few months before “The Puppy Episode” aired.
Rosie O’Donnell ‘never really got over it’
According to O’Donnell, she was shocked by Ellen’s cold sentiment while watching the Larry King Live episode with his now ex-wife, Kelli Carpenter. “I was in bed with Kelli and I was like, ‘Did I just hear that or was that, like, mind-blowing auditory voice?’ I’m like, no, and that’s what happened, and it hurt me like a baby and I never really got over it,” she shared.
Later in The Ellen Degeneres ShowO’Donnell was asked to appear as a guest to promote her comedy series, SMILF (2017-19), but ultimately declined the offer after Ellen’s producers rejected her request to bring a guest to make it “a little less awkward”.
More about us: Steve McQueen’s acting career may have directly caused his death
DeGeneres recently quit her daytime talk show amid controversy and plummeting ratings. Ellen crew members alleged a toxic work environment tainted with sexual misconduct and discrimination. “I wish her all the good things in her life and that she is well. So here it is. But I never did. I never did,” O’Donnell concluded.