Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie is here. And we are going to have such a great conversation. We always

“do when we talk to Rosie. We're going to talk about so many good things. We're going”

to talk about her getting discovered and being on star search. We're going to talk about her incredible one-woman show and how it felt to do it and what it brought up for her. We're going to talk about the idea of standing up for people, standing up for yourself and sometimes how expensive that can be. And we're going to talk about her filling in and hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live next week. And how excited she is for that. There's so many good things

happening right now. As Rosie says, she is refamous. So we're going to get into that today. But before we do, we're going to talk to somebody who knows our guests who wants to speak well behind their back. And we have a great great person joining us today. Cynthia Nixon,

“actress, activist, Cynthia, we will look. You know Cynthia. Okay. Guilted age, sex in the city,”

the show, and just like that. Also in so many incredible Broadway shows, Cynthia is a giant

and she's going to chat with us today and give us a question. Hi, Cynthia. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. Schools back soon and so is that shopping list. You know the one, new backpack, new notebooks, new water bottle, new pens. Well, with the PayPal app, you can save offers from hundreds of brands and have them applied automatically a checkout. And if you want flexibility, you can pay now or pay later at millions of stores. Download the PayPal app to get started.

Terms and exclusions apply. See PayPal.com/rewardsterms. Hey, hey, Cynthia. How are you? Woo. Awesome. Down. I'm falling down. There we go. I got a lot of headroom. Don't I? It's kind of nice books in the back. Okay. It looks, it looks smart. Maybe I'll sit on a pillow. I don't know. Me, like I used to do with the barber when I was a little girl. Yeah. I still sometimes have to put a little pad or pillow in when I'm driving a vehicle.

Ah, sometimes love it. I love it. I love it. Booster. Thank you so much for getting on and for talking about Rosie. It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. One of my favorite top most favorite topics, Rosie O'Donnell. Now you guys have been friends for a long time. We have been friends for a long time. We have been friends from early sex in the city days when Kristen Davis and I were at the Joni Mitchell concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th and Rosie and her wife were

seated in front of us and they in Rosie turned around. She was like, oh, look, it's the sex in the city girl. When we talk today, I mean, one of the things that is so disarming and charming about Rosie

is she has really always been herself in real time in front of us. She has allowed us to see her,

you know, her real self all the time. She's very authentically herself of the many like, you know, parasocial relationships that we all have with people we think we know. Rosie's definitely

“somebody really do know. Rosie, we really do know her. And I think she just came out of the womb that”

way. I really, you know, my favorite Rosie story that I tell at the drop of a hat is when she was three years old and her family moved and it was chaos and they moved to a little call the sack. And nobody was paying attention, you know, whatever and she walked out of her door and she went right across to the very next house. It wasn't like traffic. It was a call to sack, you know, and she rang the doorbell and the woman of the house entered, you know, answered the door

and looked down and there was little Rosie O'Donnell who said to her, "I'm three. You got anyone in there who's three?" And the woman's like, "has a matter of fact I do." And I think that woman is, you know, that little girl that she became then came to the door to play was, you know, so Rosie's like best friends. Really? Yeah. Oh, that's an amazing story. I'm sorry, you've got anyone in there who's three. I'm going to talk to her about a lot of things today,

including her show, her new show, which you just saw. She's performing a one-woman show. We actually we saw it in Ireland. We were in Ireland and we went to see her there and then we saw it again and it's of course it's it's it's different and there's different parts left out and there's different parts added and it's more polished but it's so much the same show. It's so it's so delicious.

And I was like, I wanted it to be four hours. I just didn't want it to end. That's a good sign.

I didn't want the stories to end and I didn't want the time, you know, spent with you to end in that way. That's a, that's a great review that somebody wanted to be longer. Now, anything you think I should ask Rosie today, we're asking our guests like, you know, any, any question, big, small, important silly, anything. Right. So I tried to think of this. It's very hard to think of it, but I thought of three and I'm sorry, I didn't think of one.

No, that's great. I thought, you know, how does she feel now and how is she dealing with the fact

“that she is arguably, you know, the most eligible lesbian bachelor on the scene at the moment?”

How is she dealing with all the people trying to fix her up and the people trying to fix her up with themselves, you know? Um, another question, which is more of a me question is like, you know, all of us sex in the city girls, we did so many sex scenes, often with, you know, quite a lot of clothes off and that kind of thing, but you know, Rosie and I had a bed scene, not exactly a sex scene, but a post-coidal scene and what was that like for her?

You know what I mean? What was it like for her? What was it like for you? I mean, it was a little strange, but um, but it was so lovely because that part that she played, opposite me on and just like

that, who was this nun who was having her first sexual experience with anybody, um, you know,

she's so funny, Rosie, but she didn't play it for last. She played it with such tenderness and hope and excitement, and it's just of course it made it even more funny. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I guess the question that I really want to ask her is, you know, kind of what you were saying, she is so important to so many people and we were out the other night and I'll tell this story very briefly, but it's a much longer story about my friend, whose mom died and she wanted to be

married buried in her Rosie O'Donnell sweatshirt. And he didn't think that was really appropriate. He thought she had to wear something a little more, you know, dressed up, but he took the, he cut out the rosy on her Rosie O'Donnell sweatshirt and he went the morning of the open casket funeral and she had her mom had a rosary in her hands and my friend pride his mom's hands apart and took the rosary out and put it by her side and wrote, put in this, this rolled up little thing with Rosie's

name from her sweatshirt and, and so that she was holding onto it. And my friend told Rosie the

“story and of course Rosie was very touched, but Rosie was not thrown. Do you know what I mean?”

Yeah. I feel like the amount of people for whom she looms this large in life and death and at the moments and length, wanting her to be there with you, why does she think she was put on the earth? Like, what is this quality that she has that she is so deeply important to people and, you know, of course there are people who reviled her for whom she is important distance as their enemy, but like, you know, what did God or the universe or, you know, put her on the earth to do,

because boy, she has so much impact on people. That is so beautifully said. She definitely is a person that creates big feelings in people and then being her friend, I'm sure you've seen people bring those big feelings to her. Like, what do you do with all of those big feelings? Like, you're only one person and I'm sure there's days where you can absorb it and you can synthesize

“it and other days where you have to just kind of like leave it at the door. But also what is there”

about herself that brings that out of people, you know? And it is going to be interesting to see if Rosie has an answer to it because I totally agree she invokes and evokes all this really interesting stuff in people and that's a beautiful story too. What a beautiful story. I know it's an unbelievable yeah, and it's much longer and more complicated, but that's the gist. Yeah, yeah. Well, I thank you, these are great questions and these are perfect. These are perfect. Thank you. This is perfect.

A perfect little removes bush before we get into the Rosie meal and I know she will be thrilled that we talked and as am I, so I really appreciate your time. Well, have a great time asking Rosie all the questions that everybody wants to ask her. Thanks, thank you so much. Bye, take care. This episode is brought to you by visible. Why does it feel like summer ends as soon as it

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Plan started $25 a month or get the premium visible plus pro plan and save $10 on your first month with promo code hang. Terms apply, see visible dot com for plan features and network management details. Rosie, how are you? I'm really good. It's really good to see you. Can I just say that you were one of the kindest people to clay when you took us to see the screening of inside out to one of their favorite movies and she still talks about it. They were so sweet that day and you and I

think we're crying together that day because that movie is, I mean, all of Pixar movies are over, but that one is. No, inside out is something else. It's like every adult should watch it like five times a day just to remember what it's like to be a kid and what it feels like to be a human person. Yeah, you captured it. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Rosie, thanks for saying that I've been so excited about you coming in today. I love talking to you. I've gotten a privilege of getting to know

you a little bit over the years and talk to you and I was just thinking about what we were going

to talk about today and I just feel like to kind of sum up the work you always do is about

“making people feel less alone, basically. Isn't that the truth? That's what I think being alive”

is all about. Yeah. Right. Tell your truth. Let everyone hear it. Yeah. And it'll help people. Yeah. It doesn't help when people keep secrets. It doesn't help. You know. Some people say, "Oh, you tell too much." And I'm like, "I suppose for some people it would be too much." But for me, you know, coming from a childhood that had a lot of secrets and a lot of stuff going down that, you know, wasn't kosher. I like to be able to go, "Well, this is what's happening."

Yeah. This is what--so, I always tell the truth. Sometimes it gets me in trouble. Like they asked me on one show. They said, "Who are you guests on Kimmel? I start naming them. I see the publicists, like fooling around in the other room. They're like, "Don't say!" You know, I'm like, "Okay, okay. I don't know the rules. I'm sorry!" What is it like being in--you've done so many interviews you've been on this side?

“What did you learn as an interviewer that now you remember when you're being interviewed?”

I don't really look at it that way. I look at it just like listening.

Yeah. It is the bottom line to every--to acting, to hosting, to interviewing.

That's true. Listen. And the ones that allow people to complete their sentence and are not looking at the notes for what's the next one. Where's the next place? You know, when I did the tonight show with Leno, okay, so you be me and I'll be Leno. Okay. Yeah. So, you see him looking down and then they come back. He's like, "Oh, so rolls you down." So listen, I just wanted to tell you, you're really good at doing this

movie part. And then you see him look at the camera over here. And when the single was on me, he'd be looking down at the note for the next-- he didn't even make a cut on that. Have you ever acted with someone like that? I've acted with people who-- show Remain names. Exactly. Right. Who when it is not their coverage, they are literally not looking at you. I know. And it's really shocking. It actually makes you feel very lonely.

Yes. And I've had, you know, there's one who I'll tell you when we're done, that was so selfish, that I was like, "This is not the spirit of acting and an ensemble. This is not the spirit." You know, it's almost like when you're in a great improv group.

“Totally. You never say no when the scene. You have to keep the scene going.”

Yeah. Or, I mean, this has happened to in projects where you, you know, especially in comedy, where you try something or say something, and then someone else just takes it. Yes. That's happened to me too. And I've been-- and it's, you know, bad behavior. I know you're this way too. I think what, like, bad behavior and conflict in general is something, at least I feel from you, Rosie. Like, you don't shy away from it.

You're not afraid of it, but I feel like you also are a little constantly shocked by it. That behavior. I am. Me too. I'm stunned by it. It stuns me in real time. It stuns me too. Not only in acting, but in politics. I go, is everyone looking at the same speech he just gave? Yes. Did we hear what he just said? That's right. He is a sleep again. Ladies and gentlemen, like what is it going to take? Right. And the looking around and the,

I've never seen him fall asleep. I'm like, "Oh, dear God, and heaven,

it's beyond willful blindness." It's really like cult programming. It's, and, and that kind of stress when something's being, when someone's behaving badly, whether it's on set, whether it's, we're if you're writing the country, whether it's like you're

“at an order in coffee, and nobody says anything. It's excruciating to me. And I think it is to you, too.”

It is to me. Even with, you know, the political stuff, people say, "Why do you do it?" I do it because I feel like I owe something to this country because of my life and career. That I started out on Long Island with a dead mother and a father who was compromised in many ways, and that I, you know, overweight, gay, became whatever this thing is that I became and lived this life of gross excess, because of it, you know? And I don't feel like shutting up now when we're on the

precipice of disaster is the way to say thank you to a country and a nation that provided me with an unbelievable life. So I feel morally obligated. And do you feel Rosie, like, that feeling of being that kid, that person that, like, has to point out and speak out just,

you were born with it? Well, the stories that my parents used to tell me was that I always

went to the adults. I always wanted to entertain the adults and to have conversations with the adults. You're a middle child. I'm the middle. I'm the old discurl. I'm named after my mother. And interestingly enough, I was always a highly sensitive person to the point that it's almost debilitating. And when I was little, I would get in trouble for watching the news, because Saigon was being evacuated. My mother had just died, and there was a push-up stairway

for the last planes out, and it was all live on TV. And there was a young teenage boy who kicked a woman. Now, they were all trying to survive, right? It was horrible. Yeah. She fell

off of the stairway and out of frame, because the frame was locked. And we never found out

what happened. I start sobbing. And my father was so mad and so overwhelmed that I would be crying that he said you're not allowed to watch the news anymore. You're not allowed. Go to your room.

“And so I think I was too much. But it's really interesting, Rosie, because you're a combo of a”

highly sensitive person, and you're also tough. Well, you know what I mean? I'm not that tough. You're not that tough. No. I cry a lot. Yeah. If someone else is crying, I start to cry. Right. I like, I have to like have a shield up, and that is definitely armor, but when people get to know me, they often say, "God, you're nothing like I thought Rosie, oh God, what's going to be?" And I'm like, "You know, in good ways and bad ways, when I would start to date people,

you know, they expected me to be like, "Hey, here I am, Katie Lang, in the bedroom. Let's go, you know." And I'm like join a cuddle. Can we watch something on TV? Can we? I never know which someone's hitting on me. I never have a clue. Unless you have a knee on sign that says, "I'm hitting on you. I would like to date you. I am clueless to it." Well, Rosie, do you think

“that you are? Because you've talked really openly about clay. Do you think you're neurodivergent?”

I, you know, when I was first on my show, Bill Gates was doing a large study in the 90s at the University of Seattle about autism. This is back when there wasn't all that much research going on. And they would call every few months the first year and say, "We really would like to test you because of my ability to recite lyrics and to like, you know, the primateen Miss commercial, most people don't know that because there's no song." And it was on in the '60s and '70s

and in the lungs primating up self-enclog breathing tubes, relaxes bronchial spasm, restores free breathing as fast as 15 seconds, primateen Miss don't help keep breathing freely for hours, primateen tablets, the one most widely prescribed by doctors. There's no reason Amy that I have that stuck in my head. You have a really interesting way to sorting information and sorting emotional information. Correct. And I think that, you know, my autistic child has taught me

patience and introspection, you know, to be more introspective about my own stuff going on. Totally. I mean, I think it's one of the beautiful things about that community in general and just the idea of a spectrum in general, is that in the same way like gender and sexuality for my generation, I feel like, like, your generation was about there are different ways, there are different ways to express your sexuality and who you love. I feel like my gen was like,

you can have a family however you want. And then the gen, like millennials are like, gender is a construct that we're all trying like everyone is like breaking apart all these things.

this party that they had at their college, you know, with eight girls in one house and a college. And I saw two of the girls kissing and I'm like, oh my God, I didn't know they were gay. She's like, mom, then a gay. They were just kissing at a party. I'm like, that doesn't make you gay anymore. What makes you gay? No, no, no. We don't know. But yeah, it was, you know, when I started, I didn't think there was any way in the world that you could be an out, lesbian person,

and be successful in show business. That's right. Because Ellen wasn't out.

“Yep. Will in grace wasn't on. I remember on my show, they said, there's going to be a show”

where it's a gay guy and his female best friend. And I said, that'll last three weeks, just like love Sydney. I don't remember the love Sydney. Yes, Tony Randall. Tony Randall had a lover.

And they never said it was his lover. But there was a picture of him above the fireplace.

And sometimes he would look lovingly and sadly at the loss. And the story in the show was that he was gay-bashed. It was a hate crime that took his life. And I remember being in church and hearing the priest talk about how horrible the show was and how, you know, and then they ripped it off the air. It was off the air and it was, you know, a wonderful show. Yeah. And I thought, wow, you can't tell anyone. But I lived a life where everyone knew. Right. Because I had kids and, you know, I had

kid when I was 33 from that moment on. I was out because you'd go to the doctor with your partner. You would, you know, and I would always go to the Emmys with Kelly. Now, Loa Smith, my wonderful. I know. You said she used to walk in between the two of you. And do you know,

“how did you remember what she looked like? She looked just like my Nana. She was tall and”

and stately. And she always wore a bright red coat. And she had been Marilyn Monroe's

publicist during the Joe Demashio years. You know, when I went, and my show was starting. And I got a publicist in New York. I went to meet her. Yeah. And I said, listen, I'm gay. And I don't imagine ever saying it because I'd rather fight for kids who are abused who don't have a voice. Then fight for adults who, you know, or, and that was my rationale at the time. And she was very grateful that I told her. But then proceeded to say to Kelly all the time, get on the other side,

get on the other side. Because she didn't want anyone to know. I don't think people realize like, you know, like, I, people are young people that I talked to were surprised that, you know, I didn't have any openly gay people in my high school. No gay and lesbian alliance. No openly gay teachers. No. No one was openly gay. And if they were like the art teacher, this beautiful man, who was a teacher and nice to call him dad. And he was so lovely and so great and so gay,

“so flamboyant. And the gym teacher, who years later in Vegas, I was at a lesbian bar. And who's there?”

I was like, give me a high five dance. Went together in a lesbian bar. Like, I dreamed when I was a 9th grade. You know? Yes. I mean, Paula Palo, you know, Paula Palo. I love her. Yes, she was on here talking about that. And one of the things that really moved me that I didn't think about as a straight person is that because at the time, she had to be closeted relationships ended like they did for everybody else. And no one got to grieve publicly. You had to like, you had to be crying in your room that you and

your best friend weren't hanging out anymore. Well, the thing that got me the most, because I was with the woman who has recently passed away. Her name was Corby. She was a bunch of years older than me. Probably like 10 or 12 years older than me. And I was one of my first relationships. And I was with her for seven years. And when we broke up, the pain of it was so intense. And I couldn't even tell my family. Yeah. My family didn't want to hear about it. Even though they knew I was living with

her and they knew that now I wasn't. No one brought it up. Nobody said, are you okay? And that is very, very isolating and lonely. Yeah. And it makes you feel that you're sort of doomed by being gay, which is no different than being left handed. We're having blue eyes. Like people don't choose it. Who would choose it? It's not an easy life. But it's a true life if you know that that's who you are, you know? Yeah. Well, you talk about this idea of truth, which you really,

what really matters to you. I love, you know, you've talked about how clay and your relationship has like kind of drawn you closer to that, keeps drawing you closer to that. Yeah. And you just

finished an incredible run of your show, common knowledge. Can you tell us where the title common

knowledge comes from? Because I love this. This is true story. So, she, they, they, and it's a they, them. Yeah. That's the pronouns that they choose. But it's very hard honey. I know, and I love, I love that you're constantly correcting in real time like we all do. It's, it's really beautiful.

told me that it was they, them, I tried my best, but I kept saying, she. Yeah. And so, they wrote on a cardboard paper, they, and then they would hold it up above their head every time I said, she, like, John, Q-Sack and say anything with the boom box just staring at me, you know. And so, I took her to my cousin's tattoo shop with the they in her handwriting. And I had a tattooed

“on my wrist, so that I would never forget that it would remind me. And I thought she'd be very”

touched and she didn't give to shifts. She could not care less than I just said. She, I just did it again in the day story, I messed it up. But yeah, but the common knowledge comes from, we were watching jeopardy, which I no longer do with her because it was really hard. I might go and, you know, I had one celebrity jeopardy once again. You did. Again, it's, um, Ed Beigley, Jr., and Robert K. Ohm. So it was Benson and the very smart Ed Beigley, Jr. And

was her smart people? A little bit younger than them. So they couldn't really work the button because you can't buzz in until the light goes on. You are the second celebrity jeopardy winner. I've had here. I bare and holds one and it's all about the button. It's about the buzzer.

And, and knowing the answers. And knowing the answers. But I always pride myself. I used to watch it

“every day. So she's about eight. Yeah. And this happens. And I believe Alex Trabeck was still alive.”

And, and in my mind, it was Alex Trabeck who said, and the answer is the deepest point ever recorded on earth. And they look up from their iPad and go, what is the Marianna trench? And I'm like, what is the Marianna trench? Oh, it's the deepest part of the earth ever recorded mom. It's near Guam. Come on. That's common knowledge. And I said, oh, what does common knowledge mean? This is late-year-old, right? It's things everyone should know, but not everyone does. She said,

they say. And I'm like, OK, can you give me some examples? And I kid you not. This is what they said. The Appalachian Mountains have been around since before Saturn had its rings common knowledge. Flamingos can drink boiling hot water without incurring any internal damage, common knowledge. Cleopatra was alive closer to the advent of the iPhone than the completion of the pyramids of Giza common knowledge. I was like, what the hell? And I asked her. I asked her, I said, honey, where do

you keep that info? And they said, I have a file folder. And I like to bring it out in appropriate times. I'm like, way to go, way to go kiddo. You know? And so this title for this show, you're one woman show. Yes. What was it like? I mean, physically to do a one woman show, Rosie.

That's exhausting. I bet. What do you do to prep? How do you manage it? Because I'm always trying

to figure out how people are managing their energy. Well, I will tell you that when, you know, we did this sort of as a proof of concept because I had done it in Europe. And it really is a

“love letter to Ireland and to clay. You know, that's what it is. And there's very little politically.”

There's a little thing about why we moved in Trump. But it's not the focus of the show in any capacity. And it really is about this love letter. And we had to change some things because I didn't know if they would get the Irish, you know, the intense Irish stories that they get over in Ireland and Scotland. Because you did a first-it-end borough? I did it in Edinburgh a year ago. Yeah. And then I did it in Dublin and went to Scotland, went to Sydney, Australia,

did the Opera House, which was unbelievable. Wow. Really wonderful. And, you know, there were two parts of it that were very emotional. One is when I open on the day my mother died, the show opens with that. And there's dead silence in the audience. And then I say, I know what you're thinking. Did I buy the wrong ticket? Isn't this the comedy show? I didn't want to come to Angela's ashes, the music. Come on, Rosie. You know, so I throw that in and then I go, don't worry. They'll be

fucked. They'll be jokes, you know. And at the very end, I tell the last time I saw my mother.

So it's bookended by these very emotional parts that when I first started doing it,

I couldn't do them without crying. Yeah. And as an actress, you know, if you had a scene where you have to talk about, you don't want to cry in the scene. You want to fight the crying in the scene. Right. So I just started to think of it as an actress. Like, okay, I'm an actress. I'm not me. This is not my mom. This is, let me just tell this as if I was a character in a movie. And I was finally able to perform it.

You first went to Ireland right after your mom died. Yes. First time. Yes. First time in a plane. And then, you know, I would imagine that would be associated with a lot of trauma. But did you find when you were there? Like, what made you return to Ireland? Because it feels like

But you found something. Well, I still have cousins there. And so when my father took this

there, I didn't understand why he did it. It was the height of the troubles. It was 1973. It was tremendous unrest. And done he goal is very close to the Northern Irish border. And my cousins were widely little guys. And they were in their late late teens. And so they got a sin trouble. You know, they would shoot captains and try to provoke the British army. And helicopters would come above where we were playing and they'd go hide. And, you know,

“and now I look back and I go, that was taken our lives into our hands. But I think I realized”

as I was riding this play, like, why did my father take us there? And not to talk about grief, because nobody mentioned my mother or her death after she died. It was to show us how to survive it the Irish way, which is you get on with it. You carry on. You don't swim in the sadness. You just move on just like the weather. That's right. You deal with it. Yeah, it's all about behavior. It's all about like just do things like fake it to you make it kind

of like active action rather than discussing any of you. Which as we all know does not work. It doesn't work. Exactly. All the Irish Catholic people out there going, sorry. Let's have a drink. Yeah, that's right. It doesn't work. It does not work.

Yeah, it doesn't work. Little tiny rosy because it funny always popular.

Yes. Homecoming queen and class clown. That doesn't happen a lot. I know. And I was prom queen and student council presidents nailed it. And I did all the plays and played all the sports like a good lesbian. So, so you crushed it. I crushed it and I screwed it.

“How do you then get in? How do you then decide I'm going to do stand up?”

I didn't want to do that. I wanted to be on Broadway. So, when I was in 10th grade, my brother was a senior and they asked me to write the script for senior follies, where you make fun of the teachers. And you know what I did? I took the Saturday night live album with Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin and Gilda and Lorraine Newman. And I took all the jokes. And I just re-wrote them for like there was a joke about a teacher who was flat-chested,

which I took directly from there. It's like Miss Baron, more on that story as it develops. You know, because. And I just put everything about someone in the school. And they were like, oh, you're like your genius. And I also did Rosanna Dan. I heard. And this guy comes over to me. And he goes, my brother, Craig Minervini, is in this school. And I'm a stand-up comedian. And I just opened a comedy club in Huntington.

“And I'd like you to come down and do stand-up comedy. I said, no, no, I'm going to be on Broadway.”

I want to be a bit midler back up singer, one of the hardlets. I want to be in a chorus line. Now, the fact that I couldn't really sing or dance didn't really stop me because I had a love enthusiasm. But I so he had me go there. First night, everyone from my high school was there. And I did jokes like Marilyn's going out with Mitchell and Greg doesn't know. And people who paid money are like, what the? And they want to just laugh in like you can't believe

because it's my high school friends showed up. Correct. Well, the next night was a school night. Yeah. And I went in and I died a horrible death. So I had in the first two nights at 16 years old, the greatest night of my life, the first night and the worst night of my life, the second night.

And then he said, well, here's what I want to do. You're welcome to come here anytime.

You don't have to pay to get in. You sit in the back with such comics and you watch and you learn. And after about four months, Shirley Hempel from what's happening came in. Yes. She saw me at the open mic night. And she went over to Richmond of Annie and said, little one's opening for me. And Richie said she's not ready. And Shirley said, either she goes on with me or I don't go on. And she would sell out. Shirley Hempel when I started,

you know, and in the 80s was like pretty huge star. Yeah. And she got me paid $25 a show, which when you're 16 years old is like a million dollars. Sure. And started my whole career. Wow. And then she got me with her manager, Bernie Young, who ended up the executive producer of my show. I mean, you did Rosie, the start of your career is like getting discovered at the soda shop. Like the fact that people saw you said, you're funny. Come here. You get there. They're like,

you're funny. Stay with me. Then you're 20 or something. And Ed McMahon's daughter says, go on star search. I mean, people are really noticing. You were just, you were making huge impressions really fast on people. Right. And it was shocking to me. And I was like, really like when when Claudia McMahon came over to me in that same club that Richard Minivine, and she said, you know, my name is Claudia McMahon. Ed McMahon's my dad. And I'm going to get you on star search.

She is the same last name. And the next day, there's a phone call. Hi, it was star search calling

for Rosio Johnnell. And I was booked. There might be people listening who don't remember who Ed McMahon is. And we talked about Johnny Carson. Ed McMahon was Johnny's co uh, it was like side sidekick. Thank you. And like had a really distinctive laugh and would just kind of like support Johnny. But then became a host in his own right and hosted this show called star search, which was back then huge. Be on. I mean, I can't even imagine what the numbers were. People

that weren't huge names were on star search Beyonce was on star search. Who else was on star search? Like, God, I have so many people. There's so many people who are on that show and went on to

great things. But, you know, I got there and every week that you won, you had to stay because they

did it live. Right. You had to stick around. Yeah, stick around at the sunset. Hi, it on sunset. I had no money. I walked every day to carnies. The hot dog stand. And for like $3, I

“got a small coke and a hot dog. And that's what I lived on. By the fifth or sixth episode,”

I was the thinnest I'd ever been. I'm like, this is how you lose weight apparently. You know, but I won like $20 something thousand dollars, which to me was unbelievable. I walked to the Mazda dealership. I walked with my $26,000 in my pocket. And I bought a stick shift, which I didn't know how to drive. And Mazda 626, brand new with no air conditioning in California. And I paid above the sticker price. They saw me come in and then listen to the guy says to me,

do you want the undercoding? I said, I don't know. Do you think I need it in LA? You don't need the undercoding. There's no snow. No, you know. And I got the full winterized package for my non air conditioning. It was unbelievable to me. But, yes, I've had a very lucky ride, Amy. And I don't ever forget it. And that's why I try to help other people. But Rosie, I'm going to say, yes, lock, of course. But also, you had something you had a real drive. You had a desire to be heard,

obviously, seeing you, you wanted to perform. You felt it. You, you went. You took big risks,

“big swings. Like people can say, come, come, do the, come to the comedy club. You have to go.”

You have to write your acts. You have to think about it. You have to, there was something really indomitable about your spirit, especially as a young person where you were like, I got it. I got to be heard. Yes, it's so true. I, I wanted that, you know, in a way that's hard for me to even articulate or find the origin of, you know, it really is. And I did want, I didn't have material just to be clear. The third day that I went back after the two horrible days,

I went back and I went up. They gave me five minutes. And I had just watched "Burve Griffin" and Jerry Seinfeld was on. And I was like, oh, that's funny, you know. So I go on to the stage. Not only do I do his act. I do his cadence and his delivery. I'm like, I'm driving here in my car stills. I'm thinking, hey, what a really open the hood. What am I looking for? A big on-off switch.

On-off. It was totally Jerry Seinfeld. You never tell Jerry that you did that. Yeah, and so I walk off the,

I walk off the set and I get swarmed by five older male comedians. I'm a teenager, remember. Oh, no. They're like, would you get that joke? I said Jerry Seinfeld. He was on Murve. And they go, it's Seinfeld. And those are his jokes. And you can't do his jokes. And like, wait a second. Why can't I do his jokes? They said, because you have to write them yourself. I'm like, "Barbastre Seinfeld does not write her own solace. Why do I have to write my own jokes?

“I'm not a writer. I'm just funny." They said, "That's what you have to do." And so it took me”

a while of being an MC to get material. And to learn to talk about your own family. And that's how I did it. Wow. I mean, you talked about doing guilders. Did you ever meet guilders? Any of those? Once you did. I would have loved to do it. She was doing one woman show Guild alive in DC. And I went. And I had this older man, again, another person who helped me, who saw me at a little comedy club at like the ground round where you could have a burger and throw the peanut shells on the floor.

So you'd be doing your action here. We have a pick up on three, pick up on three. It's a cheeseburger. It's getting cold, then a c'mon. In the middle of your act, you know. Yeah. So I was at the ground round in this older man. I mean in his 80s, Lou Levy in Prasario. That's what his card said. In Prasario, Lou Levy. And he's to bring back business cards. I'm really Joe. It was a big thing. But he knew someone who knew Gilda and said, "Go back stage." And I did. I went back stage.

And she was leaving out the back door. And I followed her at the back door. And I said, "Excuse me.

And she was like, "No." And like, looking around for security, you know. Like,

and I said, "Oh, okay. He told me that I could come back and meet you." And she said, "Yeah. I don't know him, honey. It's okay." But she was not mean to me. She didn't like, you know, tell me a side. She looked me in the eye. She stopped. Yeah. But she, you know, I used to do her because of my name is Rosanne. Right. And, you know, Rosanne and Rosanna. And you have her knowledge. You have a little piece of spit between your lips and it goes up and down and up and down. I would do her every

town on show. It was like, it was kind of like, that was how you told people you want.

“And your intercomity was by memorizing SNL. Totally. That's what I did. Yeah. Yeah. And it was so”

unbelievable when I got to host. Yeah. I was looking up the musical guest when you hosted

James Taylor and Whitney Houston. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. The second time Penny was supposed to host.

But, you know, Penny often had a big gulp and we don't know what was in it. Let's just say. And so she was could come a walk over from the SNL set to my studio, which was right on the same floor. And she goes, Rosanne, they want me to host. But I'm only doing it what you will. You do it with me. I said, okay. And I went in and I did it. And, you know, Whitney, uh, was it like to meet Whitney? You know, I really loved her. And I really bad voice. Yes.

Once a generation. But when I had my show, we were doing, uh, full episode on Cinderella. And Brandy was on and Whitney was supposed to be on. And she canceled 10 minutes before.

“And it was a live show. Thanks. And I remember going on the show and saying, Whitney,”

you better be sick in that hotel. It was a time during those times too when there just wasn't as much discussion in general about people's mental health or addiction. And without a doubt. Yes. And, you know, you were hosting, you hosted before I got to SNL. But you were doing your show, um, at the same time, we were in the same building at the same time when you were doing the, the, the Rosanne, it almost show was it was studio. 8-8. Yeah. Yeah, we were 8. Oh, no,

why was 8? 8G? 8G? Yes. We're set this now. Yes. That's right. You were in the right. And so I can remember because we, you were, because you were daytime, your stuff would be kind of done before we would be crying. Starting. Yeah. And the, the rare nights that, you know, we'd be there all night working, your crew would be coming in. It was like the day the morning, shift in the night shift. It was so cool to be around that. And that show, Rosy, it still remains,

“you must be very proud of the stuff you've done on that show. Yes, I am. I definitely must be.”

And, you know, the human interest stuff, the things that I think back on, there was a super kid right after 9-11, gorgeous girl, horrible childhood, stellar student. And at the very end, I said, please remember Kellogg's is going to throw you into any college you get into, so you get into Harvard because Kellogg's will be paying. Tell everyone what your favorite cereal is. And she said frosted flakes, but Rosy, I don't want to take the money because

of all the people in 9-11. I'd like to donate my money to the 9-11 fund. You could have, I couldn't even speak to get it out to say, we'll be back for, I was like, I kept tapping the desk. I was trying like to get out of the generosity of the human spirit, which leaves me weak all the time. I wonder what your anyogram number is. I don't know, but I know this. I'm a triple Aries. Oh, wow, Rosy. Three. And everybody, I had my chart on twice because the woman's face when

she finished, she's like, you're a triple Aries. Like, I was a Charles Manson murderer, potentially. You know, I was like, what does it mean? What is it mean? Well, drag was in here and drags is like a Pisces stelium, meaning she's got like more like eight things in Pisces bearer. And the woman was like, how are you alive? Yes. Exactly. She was so good in Rocky Horror.

I was so happy for the Tony nominations for everyone. I had such an incredible summer. We're

both with her on a can and my all and brought it all the time. Unbelievable. Rocky Horror was so good. And that lead boy. My Lord, heaven, Luke something. Oh, oh, makes a girl think, you know, gay girl, too. I was like, I don't know what your deal is, sir, but come over near me and let me smell you. You know, like, I don't want you naked in my bed. I'm not interested in the downtown mechanics, but I would like you to maybe have lunch with me and get me eliminate, you know.

So I feel about lesbians. I don't want to kiss them, but I want them to think I'm cool. Well, we do. Well, I went to the last meeting and everybody was like, does anybody pull or still cool? And everybody said yes. And I often want to be them. You know, like, it's like,

do I want to kiss them? Do I want to be them? Yes. Do I want to get their approval? Like, it's, it's, and, and kind of what we talked about earlier. Now it's so interesting is everything is so much more open. Like, we can talk about, I mean, like, even when you used to talk about loving Tom, crews. Yes. It was like, people would want to make that very binary, right? Like, yes, well, that being she wants them in bed. I know that I often said, I don't want them in bed. I want

“them to mow my lawn and bring me a nice taste. Like, that's what I said. And I didn't know how much”

clear I could be. So when I finally did come out and people were shocked, I was like, how the hell are you shocked? And they're like the Tom Cruise thing. I'm like, how much clearer did I have to be? Yeah. They were men that I feel this way. There's a guy in Cats, the Jellicle Ball, Sidney Harcourt. He plays Rump Tom Tugger. And he is the sexiest human I've ever seen. And so unbearably talented. And I did the judges thing when I was there once. And he came up and sings to the judges.

And he put his hand on my face. And I was like a little school girl. Like, oh my god, the most handsome boy in the class is looking at me. Yeah. And I still have those feelings. But it doesn't translate into, I would like to be sexually intimate with you. You know,

doesn't go there. Trust me on that. I mean, which it proves once again, always,

“and it is like, you cannot change who you are. You really, there's nothing about”

sexuality that feels like you can't like think your way into being attracted to somebody. Well, can I tell you the story that just happened to me? I'm in LA at the Four Seasons Hotel with Clay and Clay asked for a loan time to stem. Her stem is running. So she runs the perimeter of the room and touches the walls as she goes. But they, but they like to do it alone. And at home, we have the space that they can do it alone. So I said, it's the world cup. I'll go downstairs.

I'll have a beer. I'm going to give you one hour. It's when it's nine o'clock. I'm coming up. What a beautiful exchange. I just want to pause for a second. That your child is able to say, I need this, express what it is. You're like, okay, this is what you need. There's no shaming involved. No. Also, I have some boundaries too. I got to come back in an hour. We're going to work

“together. Beautiful. Okay. Thank you. And so I get downstairs. And there's a Margo Martin down”

sitting at the bar. And I've never met her, but I love her work. And one seed is empty and it's next

to her. So I sit down and I go Margo Martin. Rosie O'Donnell star the Flintstone. And she's like Rosie. And I said, Margo. And then she goes, I go, can I buy you a drink? And she slowly looks up and goes, sweetheart. It's not my first one. And I said, can I buy you your fifth one? That'll be it. Yes, you can. You know, there's a guy sitting next to us, a doctor. Handsome built muscles. About 55, maybe 57. Oh my god, this is great. Pays are built. Oh, bless. He should have straight

mentioned by all the things. Yes, I agree. Yeah, paid for everything. Walked Margo to the elevator. Comes back says, can I talk to you for a minute? I said, sure, I have to go up in a just a bit. He said, okay, I really feel like I'm connecting to you tonight. And I was wondering if when you're here doing your Jimmy Kimmel that we could go out for dinner. And I said, a news flash. Big less me in. I don't know if you heard, but in that way since 1970. And I don't think there's

a, well, it doesn't mean that you can't, you know, go out to dinner with someone who knows. Maybe you'll feel a spark. He's a doctor by the box. He's a doctor. So the next day, there's flowers. There's flowers for me sent to my room. I'm like, Rose, okay. Okay, so I go, I'm thinking to myself, what's going on here? I get in the plane and the gayest flight attended in the world comes over to me and starts talking and starts telling me his whole life.

He's been with his partner 37 years, but they only just told their families because they were both from religious communities and they lived in the south. And he was my age and he was so funny and

so beautiful. Eddie walked away and I thought, I could never leave my gay family. Like I could never

leave the throngs of gay people out in the world of which I am a member and proud to be a member. And want to be the person that the gay guys come over and tell me their stories. And, you know, it was something that I realized no matter how handsome he was and how many flowers he sent. There's no way you're going to make this gay person a straight person. That's right. And the same way that you can't make a straight person a gay person. Now there is a spectrum.

So there's a overlap, of course. But I'm one of those, you know, definitely 100% gay. But that guy was like, "Well, you haven't seen my moods yet." But you know, Rose, you look fantastic.

I never, I never felt better. And, at sad to me that it took me till I was 64 to get here.

But part of it is Mangero. Yeah. Three years ago, the doctor told me before it was really in the news that much. We had O, O, O, Zampic. But I didn't know that there was Mangero. So they said,

“"You have diabetes. Can you take a shot?" I said, "I think so. I don't know. I've never done a shot."”

Is it insulin? It's my uncles and stuff. And they said, "No, it's this new drug and it really helps with your blood sugar." Never mentioned weight loss. Never said anything. Because it was my numbers. They were trying to get down. Right. So I go on this Mangero and I go to Nobu with my son. He's just gotten engaged at Phantom of the Opera, how perfect for my son. Right? I was like,

"You're getting mommy points and more money in the will for this." And then the weirdest thing,

he gets down on one knee before the show starts. And everybody in the audience goes, "And they start looking at him. And this woman's voice I hear behind me going, "Are they the sweetest couple in the world? I turned around. I go Hillary Clinton. That is my son." And they have a picture on their engagement of Hillary Clinton with the Phantom of the Opera. But I digress. So I take the shot and I go out to Nobu and I can't

anything. And I think I'm so overwhelmed emotionally by missing my mom and wishing she could have seen and known him and that he got engaged in a brand new start in his life. And I was full of emotion.

“And so I thought that's what it was. Yeah. Cut to two weeks later, I get on the scale.”

I call my doctor crying. I must have cancer. I've lost 12 pounds and I haven't done anything. It's been three weeks since I started that matter. Yeah, because you do get to a certain age where

losing weight for no reason is scary. Well, I had never lost weight for no reason. Even when I tried to

lose weight, it was hard for me to lose weight. And I had done all those things, fan fan and everything. But this drug is going to help so many people if they could only stop being greedy bastards and give it to the people who need it at a price that is affordable for everyone. It's a sin to have science. Come so far to help cure obesity. You've been so open with your body. And that's not easy, Rosie. Because as a woman in the world in general, people want to talk about your body

nonstop. Yes. And you've had people talk about your body all the time, especially that orange one. Exactly. You've had the you've had the you've had stuff said about your body that's so fucking horrible and insane. And you also are woman in the world like we all are feeling feelings about their body. And we all know doesn't matter what size you are. You have feelings about your

“body. Of course. When I look at myself from when I was thinner and I think at that point,”

I thought I was fat. I think that it's our duty to help each other, especially women helping other women. All I want to do now is talk to women that are 10 years older me to say, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing for your body? What are you doing for what are you taking? How do you move? What are your exercises? How do you feel like, you know, I'm curious when you're doing your show. Like, I'm like, I wonder what Rosie does to she stretch. Does she do

weights? What I found is that it's not the physicalness of standing for an hour and a half every night. It's the people waiting to say hello to me. Yes. And I feel very obligated to do it. Even though I'm depleted by the end of the show emotionally, I meet the people that I sort of know or who know people that know me and say they could stay in the seats. But I can't go out to the crowd for another hour because Clay's at home waiting. Yeah. With the babysitter and she still sleeps

in my bed. They still sleep in my bed. Yeah. And the doctor said, don't worry, when they're ready, and they're safe enough, they'll go to their own room. You know, but it's been a long time. Very long time. Don't you feel like that's growth in maturity too is figuring out the amount of energy you have and people that love you and understand like, I mean, at a certain point, I mean, you are an extroverted person, present as an extroverted person. You're probably much more

introverted than you present. And it's like being an extroverted person, having conversations very draining takes us a lot out, especially in my care. Yes. Exactly. And it breaks my heart. This this one guy in the show, his mother died and at her funeral, she wanted to be buried in her Rosio Donald T-shirt and the family was upset. So this young gay boy cut out the label that said the Rosio Donald show folded it up and put it in her, his mother's hand in the coffin and said,

if anyone touches this, I'm not going to speak to you. And so he fulfilled his promise to his mother by letting her be buried with the Rosio Donald something. And that kind of adulation and

if I was able to talk to Barbara Streisand when I was a kid, if there was a chance that she would answer me back on Instagram, I would not have gone to school. I would have stayed home. I used to write her letters and send it to Columbia Records. So I think I get it so much, but it's hard for

me to believe that I am that to them because you always only feel like you. Right. And also that's

also just nervous system wise. Sometimes hard to receive. It's a lot to receive because you don't want to disappoint the person in the moment. You want to take all their stuff. They're really

“excited to tell. And you're also a human being with your own stuff and your own. So you have to”

have a big capacity. It's a lot. Yes. It's a lot. And I feel like recently I'm refaimus. That's what I feel. I told my kids well kids hold on because mommy's refaimus. I don't know how it happened. I think it's Mango Mussolini. I think it's him who did it. He didn't know if he knew how much he was helping my career in my life. He would shut up about me because, you know, he's a horrible creature. You know, that story you told about that man. We know because we spoke. We do this thing on the show

where we speak to our friends of our guest to talk well behind their back. And we spoke to Cynthia Nixon. And she was the one who told us that story. Yes. And she also spoke, I mean, she's so like

so many people, Rosie. She feels so seen by you supported by you. She's an incredible performer

and actress and activist and New Yorker. Yes. And what's so great about Cynthia? She is the real

“deal period and of subject. She's one of the best actresses that we have. She stands up for”

injustice wherever she sees it. She puts her money where her mouth is. She loves her children and her wife and I admire her greatly. Well, the feeling is mutual. And she talked about, she had a couple questions for you and they're really fun. One of them is, you know, and it's about, you know, we have any, we don't have, we could have talked about all your acting. We haven't even talked about all the stuff that you've done. But one thing that we saw recently that was really exciting to

see is in just like that, like to see an intimate scene between you and her and you playing a character who was having experience for the first time is very vulnerable. And she was, and her question was like, she was like, you know, what was your bed scene with Cynthia Nixon like? The hard for him to me because I was so nervous. Yeah. And you know, first of all, I love her. Like I love her. Yeah. Right. And I have so much respect for her and she called me and she's like, grow, you know,

Michael Patrick wrote you a scene and it's just, it's with me. Well, you do, I said, of course, I'll do it with you, you know. And then I read it and I'm like, in bed with just the sheets and then I'm like, oh, my God. Like I only did one sex scene in my life and it was with Julien McMahon from Nip Talk. And he was such a gentleman that I had a tube top on and like little underpants and we're supposed to be naked. And he's got a little cock sock and he's like leaning his arms

are shaking because he doesn't want to put his body on mine. Yeah. And so finally after three takes, they said, we keep seeing the top, the tube top. And I looked at him and he's this gorgeous, you know, God rest his soul, gorgeous, Greek statue of a man. He's a Kennedy in my mind. Like, he's just so was just so perfect. And so I pulled down my tube top and I said, Julien, those are my boobs. And he said, nice rack. He said, and I said, really? Yes, I said, oh,

grow. Okay. And then I like stood up to the group. No, I didn't. But so I was nervous with Cynthia. Yeah. And then Michael said, you know, you guys can be a little bit more and I'm thinking, I can't really. I know also it's weird to kiss your face. Exactly. The kissing was an hard, but the laying is dead and the wanting us to act like we had just done it. I was like, oh,

“but you know, I'm a little, I'm a little immature when it comes to that. You know, I think that's”

immature. I've talked to a lot of my friends who have to do intimate scenes. And it's a skill. It's a skill. It's a skill. It's a skill. It's a really skill. Okay. Her other question. One or another question is, what does it feel

like to be the most eligible lesbian bachelor on this team? Well, the fact that I never know

when anyone is sitting on me makes me not really be able to appreciate it to tell you the truth. Yeah. But, you know, it's, it's very lovely. I said on an interview I did about that I was looking, you know, I'd like to be in love again. Well, I might as well have taken out an only fans account, because all these lesbians are like, I think I'm the one for you. And I'm like, oh my god,

Oh, I know our day. I'm like, oh no. Oh, no. What am I going to do? You know, I should have said it.

“But it's, it is really flattering and really lovely. And, you know, I believe it's just so vulnerable”

and beautiful that you can say, I'm looking for love again. I mean, just even that is like,

we have to, we have to open up the channel to that sometimes. Yes. We're not always in the right space

for it and for me. And I will say, you know, it's really hard with clay because that's my primary relationship. So I haven't really known how to do both. And I also didn't want someone telling me their opinion on how to raise an autistic child because until you have your own, you don't really know what the topography is like. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Everything is different. And you shared that journey online as well. You know, I was during COVID. I felt very less alone

by listening to you. You know, you did, like, front facing videos on TikTok about what was going on in your life. You have educated me and a lot of people on what it feels like to be on the journey of figuring out your kid because everyone has to figure out their kid. Yes.

“Even if they are neurodivergent or not, everyone has to be like, who, what kind of kid do I have?”

Everyone has to do that journey. Exactly. And everyone has to let go and kind of at times even grieve for some version of a child they don't have that they thought they were going to have. And then step into the beautifulness of the kid that they have. Everybody has to make that journey.

Now, I never grieved that. I didn't think, you know, when a lot of my friends would have

autistic kids, they were very thrown by it. Uh-huh. And I was never thrown by it. And I know like, in one case, my publicist who I love Cindy Berger, she has a son who's neurodivergent and spectrum on the spectrum, Spencer. And when he was a little kid, all he would say is Rosio Donald is behind a green gate. Rosio Donald is behind a green gate. Rosio Donald, how many ceiling fans do you have? So when she, he would come in, he's like five or six and Cindy would, I'd see her sit outside going,

you don't talk about the ceiling fans. You do not talk about those. Like she's talking to somebody about interviewing Mariah Carey. You know, not what you do. You don't look at her. You don't, you know. And so he comes in and he's like, hi, Rosio Donald, you live behind a green gate. I go and glad you found the house. Wanna go count ceiling fans? And she's like, and I take him

and we catch and we watch the garage door open and closed. And so I always thought to God, like,

“I really did say to God, why didn't you give me an autistic kid? I think I would be able”

you are to translate and to understand and be like an inter, you know, to help them in a world that wasn't designed for them. That's right. You know, when we found out that they have autism, we decided to do a lot of autism friendly events. And we went to this one mommy in me class and so she's walking around talking at three years old to everyone. She comes back with holding hands with the boy who was five and he had Down syndrome. He had autism and he was non-speaking. You know, he could

make sounds. He was verbal, but he could not form words. So she says, mommy, this is my new best friend, Stephen. Stephen, this is my mommy and Stephen goes, I was out there, so full, and she looks at him and says, I'm sorry, Stephen, but we don't speak Spanish. And I thought this kid is funny. At three years old, you know, she knows at a late down a joke gets the biggest laugh of my show and I didn't write it, she did, you know. Perfect. How's the dog? You still

read it? Oh yes, we took the dog, Kuma, over to Ireland now. I will say this. The service dog for autism is really for the whole family. It's not just for the kid. And as Clay has gotten older, she's decided, they've decided they're into cats. Okay. Not so much dogs. Sure. So Kuma is really my emotional support animal. Great. Because when I am upset and things are, you know, he sits right here and his face is right there and he's like, well, lick my face and like, look at me like,

are you okay? I'm like, dude, I'm better. I'm coming down. I'm like, you know, taking all the news off the channels in Ireland. Yes. All the American stations has been a big blessing. I want to talk to you briefly about Ireland because, I mean, everybody is really interested in how it's going for you there. And what is it like to be in living in another country? What has been the best and hardest part? The best part is that they don't have celebrity culture there. Nobody really cares that

you're famous. Now, when people knew that I moved there, people would say, welcome, Rosie. Welcome tired and you belong here. And it's so sweet and we went out the first week we're there. I don't know anyone, but two cousins up in Northern Ireland. Okay. So we're out of beer garden

lovely people and clay starts to play with their baby and they're sitting as close as you and I are by that a different table. So we spend two and a half hours together and at the very end is we're leaving. I said to them, thank you very much. It's been lovely meeting you and they said, and by the way, Rosie, we're huge fans. And I said, really, I thought you'd wait till the end of the dinner to bring that up like being funny, right? Yeah. And she goes, well, surely it's not the

most important thing. Now is it? I thought a sentence you'd never hear in America. It's not the most

“important thing about you and that's what I found out when I was over in Ireland. The hardest part”

is being away from my kids, my grown kids and from my friends, you know, my friends are really my family and community and it's been very difficult. It's lonely sometimes. Yeah. What I have met two really good friends whose little kids have autism and they're the same age as clay and we, you know, socialize together and, you know, that's been really helpful. You know, it's been very beautiful and very, very healing for me. People say they notice a difference and I think I'm just

calmer. Yeah. I'm calmer being over there. Yeah. Well, it feels like you're taking care of yourself in the way you would take care of somebody else. For the first time, I think. Yeah. Really, because I usually try to, you know, put on everyone else's mask first. Yeah, right? I understand that and you're

your fierce advocate for a lot of people and it's always sometimes hard to turn that around on yourself.

“Yes, it is. We could have, we could have talked for Aberrosy. We could talk for it. We could.”

We didn't even talk about a league of their own. Wow. Wow. We didn't. That was the best. I'm about it. Have a penny. How about penny, say to me, what was it? I want you to lose 20 pounds before principle for photography. I'm like, yeah, pen, I keep it on because it's fun. I keep on the extra 20 or 40 and you don't like it. I'm so shocked. You know, and then she would always say she would always go, okay. I need somebody to go over it, get a foot, bullshit, get

maybe bend down, come up with a hot dog and you're my who was to do it. No, no one else could

understand her. So I'm like, I'll do it, Penita. Rosie again. Why always Rosie? Girls, you know,

we'll be in a movie. And they're like, what'd you say? What did she say? But I miss her. She was a riot man. Oh my god. I got to meet her. She was a riot. We would sometimes go to basketball games together again with her very big big gulp. And she would say at half time, "Whoa, you want to go shoot some hoops?" I go, "Penita, this is not a set. This is the NBA. We're not going to shoot. Come on, there's the balls. Let's just go shoot a couple." And she did. She went out

without me. I was too embarrassed to do it. But she wasn't embarrassed of anything. I mean, people don't understand what Leverna and Shirley meant to women in comedy. They were both, I mean, Cindy Williams also really funny. And they were, they got to be so funny. They were the funny women in their show. Yes, indeed. They got to see an effo. Exactly. They see an effo got jokes. And Leverna and Shirley got jokes. Yes. And they did so much physical comedy. They were so funny. And the man in that show kind of

came and went and rolled their eyes and commented on the, you know, on the funny stuff like the women usually have to do shows in the room. Shirley got all the jokes. And the last question I'll ask Rose is, what do you want? I know you're a huge fan of the arts, but you like just like the video we talked about. You love the high low. You love a viral video that you're watching or TV show. You love beautiful, fine art, you're an artist. There's, you're a true fan all the time. Yes.

“What do you watch, listen to? What do you into these days right now that's making you laugh?”

It's keeping you light. It's keeping you connected or like, well, I loved Lena Dunnham's book, famed sick. Yes. Because I had a very similar experience with fame. It's, you know, it's the impending glittering disaster as boy George Road in taboo. You know, it's hard to explain it to people because it's held up as the utopia and it's really not and it's hard to manage and it affects your life completely and everyone in your life completely. And nobody feels any sympathy about.

No, no. And you can't really complain about it unless you're with other famous people. Because other people go, well, how dare you. You know, how dare I try to live it. It's not that easy. You become de-personalized. Like people don't think you were a person anymore. But I'm watching this show on HBO called Half-Man. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. It's the guy who did baby reindeer, Richard Gad. Yes. And he is a genius. He did that one, brought to Edinburgh and made it into that show.

And now he wrote and stars in a very intense psychological drama relationship about two half-step brothers, step brothers. And it's riveting. Meena wait was in here talking about that, too.

that I watch you. I think you're the only podcast I listen to because I'm too old. I don't, I never

“like who has that time. No, but I love, I love this one. And I watch it all the time.”

Thank you for saying that. It's the truth. It's the truth. I've learned a lot by watching you. I learned a lot by watching how you interact with people in the spirit of this show. It was a lot to your

show. Oh. And it reminds you so much. To hear you say that's a thing. Well, no, you're kind and you're

loving and you're very interested in curious. And not all podcast people are. No. If they don't

“seem interested, they seem like they're trying to do something for their own career, not like”

leasing genuine lead a care and about each guest that you have. And it's really beautiful. So thank you. Thank you. And I'm looking forward to seeing you on Kimmel, which is going to be August 7, 10th to the 20th. You can't wait to see you. I know he. Thank God for him. And I'm so happy that he has been in this re-famous way. Everybody wants to see and hear more from you. Well, thank

“you very much. Thank you for doing this, Rosie. Amy, it's my true pleasure. Anytime. And when I'm”

back when he's I will I'll be your person if anyone cancels. Pull me up and I'll just show us. Thank you, Rosie O'Donnell. That was such a good conversation. Love talking to you and

could have done it all day. And you know, Rosie is always supporting stuff that she loves. And

anybody who listens to good hang knows that I love podcasts. And I wanted to recommend a podcast for this polar plunge. It is Dantiberski's manifesto. It is a show about all different types of manifestos. What they mean, what they're trying to say, good, bad, confusing, how they motivate us, how they keep us frozen, how they move things along. It's so, so well done. It's an audible original, please, and thanks, productions, has made the show along Dantiberski the host. And you can get it

in any of your platforms. You can find it anywhere. It's such a good show, Dantiberski's manifesto. Check it out. Highly recommend it. Thank you for listening to this podcast. Thank you, Rosie, for joining us. And thanks everybody all the time for everything. Everywhere, I'll see soon, bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Burman, and me, Amy Polar. The show is produced by the ringer and paper kite.

For the ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spelaine, Kai-A-Mick-Mollin, NLA as a nearest. For paper kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Burman. Original music by Amy Miles.