The past year and change of Jimmy Kimmel’s late night life has been as chaotic as it gets, so it’s presumed that he’s currently doing his best to rid himself of all that stress while on his yearly summer hiatus. But the show must go on, and Rosie O’Donnell took over for this mid-August week, after already shooting down rumors about wanting her own late night show. Though audiences may think that the two are friendly, given both have been frequent targets of Donald Trump, she said that’s not the case.
In fact, the former daytime mainstay shared that she’s long known that Kimmel wasn’t particularly into her comedy and career, but that it didn’t get in the way of the longtime late night host putting in the request to bring her onboard to follow up Anthony Anderson's week as frontman. Speaking with Variety, O'Donnell opened up about being not-that-friendly with Kimmel over the years, saying:
We’ve never spoken on the phone; we’ve texted a few times. Howard Stern tried to make amends with us, so we’ve 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 — not that I was fighting back, but I was like, ‘OK, one of the bro guys…’
Jimmy Kimmel has in some ways (not all) traveled a long distance from his years co-hosting The Man Show with Adam Corolla. But it's not like there's a golden rule that says all comedians must get along behind the scenes.
Still, despite any mild amounts of animosity, Rosie O'Donnell said she reached out after Kimmel's uncle Frank Potenza, who appeared regularly on Live!, passed away in 2011. It sounds like that eased things between them, even if it never reached a the point where she was a regular guest on his show. Or a guest at all. She continued:
When everything happened with his uncle dying, I wrote him and he wrote back. So, when my publicist called and said, ‘Do you want to guest-host ‘Kimmel’ for a week?’ I said, ‘I haven’t ever even been a guest!’ And then I said, ‘If you’re positive that that’s an actual offer and he wants me to do it, then I most certainly will.’ I was surprised, to tell you the truth, and very thankful.
Rosie O'Donnell certainly has experience heading up a daily talk show, as she hosted her Emmy-winning self-titled series for six seasons, and also sat atThe View's table for two non-consecutive seasons, exiting each after on-air disputes with co-hosts such as Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She recently talked about returning to The View for its 30th anniversary season, but the daytime series' executive producer shot down those claims as not being real. Which technically doesn't negate them from potentially being real down the line. Just not yet.
Check out who Rosie O'Donnell will be talking to for the rest of her week in Jimmy Kimmel's shoes.
Upcoming Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guests
Wednesday, August 19: Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Thursday, August 20: Megan Mulally and Nick Offerman, Shawn Hatosy (The Pitt), Sydney James Harcourt (Cats: The Jellicle Ball)
Friday, August 21: TBC
Will this stint as guest host land Rosie O'Donnell an invite to appear as a guest when Kimmel is back behind the desk? It could happen.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights on ABC at 11:35 p.m. ET, and episodes can be streamed the next day via Hulu subscription.
