LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: American comedian Rosie O'Donnell opened up about her long-time dispute with Ellen DeGeneres as she disclosed that she did not accept the 65-year-old's recent apology. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rosie said that the former chat host contacted her a few weeks ago to apologize to her but she instead rejected her altruistic gesture.
"She texted me a few weeks ago checking in, seeing how I’m doing, and I asked her how she’s surviving not being on TV", she explained. She went on to say, "It’s a big transition. But we’ve had our weirdness in our relationship. I don’t know if it’s jealousy, competition or the fact that she said a mean thing about me once that really hurt my feelings."
'I don’t trust this person to be in my world'
Rosie gave an insight into their long-time feud for the first time last year on an episode of 'Watch What Happens Live'. "She wrote, 'I’m really sorry, and I don’t remember that.' I guess she saw me talk about it on Andy Cohen’s show," she explained and revealed that sometime after that, Ellen reached out to apologize. "I remembered it so well, I had T-Shirts printed and I gave them to my staff that said ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.’"
Rosie went on to say that she is not ready to reconcile with her despite the duo sharing a long history. She said, "I have a picture of her holding [my then-infant son] Parker. I know her mother. I could identify her brother without her in the room. I knew her for so many years. It just felt like I don’t trust this person to be in my world."
What happened between Rosie and Ellen?
The fallout between Ellen and Rosie started back in May 1998 when Ellen appeared on Larry King Live shortly after Rosie came out as lesbian. When Ellen was asked about what happened to her on the news, she answered, "I don't know. You know, maybe she didn't — I don't really know Rosie that well. I mean, I've spoken to her, but we're not really friends. We don't, like — so I don't really know and I couldn't say what her..." Rosie, then, finally, gave an insight into their rivalry in September last year.
Rosie appeared on 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen' at the time and Cohen asked why both of them have such a haughty relationship. Although both Ellen and Rosie share a lot of experiences such as both having successful talk shows at a time, both being female comedians, and both being lesbians, the two stars did not remain on friendly terms.
O'Donnell was asked to appear as a guest in season 19 of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'
"We had a little bit of a weird thing, and after my show went off the air and hers was coming on the air," Rosie told Andy. "Larry King was on with Ellen and he said 'What ever happened to Rosie O'Donnell? Her show went down the tubes! She came out as a lesbian and disappeared!'" She continued, "And Ellen said, and I'm quoting, 'I don't know Rosie. We're not friends.'"
Rosie was watching the interview with her ex-wife Kelli Carpenter at the time. She said, "I was in bed with Kelli and I said 'Did I just hear that? Or was that a hallucination, auditory voice in my —'." She concluded, saying, "And that's what happened. And it hurt my feelings like a baby. And I never really got over it."
Rosie was finally asked to come on Ellen's show as a guest nearly more than 10 years later. However, to make the situation "a little less awkward," there were discussions about her not going alone. Ultimately, the idea did not pan out but Rosie said that she does not hold any resentment towards Ellen. "I wish her all good things in her life and that she should be well," she said.
