Rosie O'Donnell has had a 'weird' relationship with Ellen DeGeneres

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Rosie O’Donnell has had a “weird” relationship with Ellen DeGeneres.

The 60-year-old star fronted her own daytime chat show from 1996 until 2002 and – following a brief period where she was replaced by Sabrina, the Teenage Witch actress Caroline Rhea – her slot was ultimately taken by fellow comedienne Ellen, 64, who fronted The Ellen DeGeneres Show between 2003 and 2022 but the pair are still “not friends.”

She said: “We had a little bit of a weird thing, and after my show went off the air and hers was coming on the air. 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!’ And Ellen said, and I’m quoting, “I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.”

At the time, Rosie was married to then-wife Kelli Carpenter and went on to explain that she has “never got over” the comments that Ellen made about her on air.

Speaking on Watch What Happens Live, she told host Andy Cohen: “I was in bed with Kelli and I said ‘Did I just hear that? Or was that a hallucination, auditory voice in my (head)?’ ‘And that’s what happened. And it hurt my feelings like a baby. And I never really got over it!”

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However, The Flintstones actress then insisted that she wishes no ill to her fellow TV star – who quit hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this year after 19 years on the air – and in fact hopes that she is “well.”

She added: “I wish her all the good things in life and that she should be well.”