Rosie O'Donnell Reveals How Ellen DeGeneres Badly 'Hurt' Her Feelings

Comedienne Rosie O'Donnell recently spoke with Andy Cohen about the weird situation between her and Ellen DeGeneres. The actress also revealed why she never featured on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," mentioning that DeGeneres once denied knowing her.

DeGeneres had previously featured on O'Donnell's show and teased her coming out as gay months before she actually revealed her sexuality. The former talk show host also spoke about how hurt she was that DeGeneres had denied knowing her. She also revealed that DeGeneres eventually invited her to her show, but she declined.

During an interview with People, O'Donnell spoke about the rumors that her talk show is coming back. She said that the rumors could have stemmed from her posting old clips of the show on TikTok. However, she did say that her career is unpredictable, so never say never. 

Read on to find out more.

O'Donnell recently featured on an episode of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," where she discussed the weird situation between her and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Cohen asked O'Donnell why she'd never featured on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" throughout its run.

The actress explained that she'd never been Ellen's guest because the two women have "a little bit of a weird thing." She said, "After my show went off the air, and hers was coming on the air, Larry King was on with Ellen and he said, 'Whatever happened to Rosie O'Donnell? Her show went down the tubes. She came out as a lesbian and disappeared.'"

O'Donnell revealed that DeGeneres then said, "I don't know Rosie. We're not friends." They have since barely interacted, and it led to a strained and barely existent relationship between the two talk show icons.

DeGeneres had previously featured on O'Donnell's show, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," during one of its episodes in 1996. During her appearance on the show, DeGeneres tiptoed around the rumors about her sexuality and said that her character would soon come out as "Lebanese."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOD8MyUOZY0

Months later, DeGeneres came out as gay on "Ellen," her self-titled sitcom. O'Donnell revealed to Cohen that she was particularly hurt that DeGeneres had denied being friends or even knowing her.

She said, "I was in bed with Kelli and I went, 'Did I just hear that or was that, like, a hallucination auditory voice?' I'm like, no, and that's what happened, and it hurt my feelings like a baby and I never really got over it."

O'Donnell later revealed that DeGeneres did invite to be on her talk show once. She said the talk show host asked her on the show towards the end of its run to promote her new Showtime comedy series, "SMILF."

However, when O'Donnell asked if she could bring someone with her to feature on the episode and make things "a little less awkward," the showrunner denied her request. So, O'Donnell turned down the opportunity.

Despite the awkwardness of their relationship or the lack of a relationship, O'Donnell said she wishes DeGeneres all the best. She said, "I wish her all good things in her life and that she should be well. So there you go. But I never did it. I never did it."

During an interview with People, O'Donnell spoke about the rumors that her talk show is making a comeback. She said that the rumors most likely sprang from the throwback clips she's recently posted on TikTok.

O'Donnell said, "I feel like for me, it was really of a time. The time to start a new show for TV now with the social delivery platforms that they have is not a 60-year-old woman. You have to be younger and have the fight in you and be on the cutting edge. So I don't think that I would do it again."

However, as the interview wrapped up, O'Donnell teased that her career has been largely unpredictable, so she wouldn't rule out the possibility entirely. She said, "My career has been so unpredictable that you never know what will happen."