As she prepares to step in as a guest host on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, veteran comedian and 12-time Emmy Award winner Rosie O’Donnell is making it clear that her nearly two-decade political feud with Donald Trump is far from over. Speaking on a recent episode of the On with Kara Swisher podcast, O’Donnell promises viewers that she has no intention of holding back when she takes over Kimmel’s desk, despite recent network constraints and ongoing debates around broadcast regulation.
Addressing the president directly during her podcast interview, O’Donnell declared, “I know you’re watching,” while outlining her intent to confront him on air in a “comedic, honest, truthful way.” O’Donnell also praised Kimmel’s own ongoing clash with Trump, describing the late-night host’s approach to late-night satire as both “brave and bold.”
When host Kara Swisher raised concerns regarding the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman, Brendan Carr—who earlier initiated a public inquiry into broadcast television programming—O’Donnell remained entirely unbothered by potential government scrutiny. “What are they gonna say, that you can’t say that?” O’Donnell asked rhetorically. “I don’t listen to them. I don’t pay any heed to them.”
However, while O’Donnell dismissed regulatory pressures, she revealed that ABC network brass did intervene regarding specific musical material she had planned for her broadcast appearance. According to O’Donnell, executives reined in her intention to perform an anti-Trump parody set to the tune of “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz. Network officials informed her that “they couldn’t get permission for the parody because it’s political content,” a decision O’Donnell characterized as “absurd” given that she routinely performed audience-favorite parodies during her daytime talk show, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, which aired from 1996 to 2002.
Despite the network ban on televising the track, O’Donnell used the uncensored venue of the podcast to sing the restricted lyrics anyway: “His approval rate is 30, his diaper’s always dirty, I think the guy’s insane. He ain’t no stable genius, got a teeny, tiny penis, and he doesn’t have a brain.” She clarified that the network’s restriction was in no way Kimmel’s fault, noting that it stemmed strictly from corporate oversight.
Instead, O’Donnell unveiled a separate parody song set to the tune of “Hello, Dolly!” that she still intends to perform on her opening night. “Hello, Donny, I know you’re watching, Donny, it’s me, Rosie, showing up on ABC,” she sang, continuing with lyrics mocking Trump’s supposed obsession with her: “You’ve got a crush, Donny; It’s too much. I hear you’re leaving Melania for me.” When Swisher pointed out that O’Donnell was overtly sexualizing the political rivalry, O’Donnell readily agreed, stating, “That’s what I wanna do. He’s totally wanting of me,” before ad-libbing additional lines: “You want to grab me, Donny; I want to stab thee, Donny.”
The discussion arose following a recorded video question submitted by soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who asked O’Donnell how she planned to handle Trump during her late-night stint. O’Donnell’s guest-hosting run on Jimmy Kimmel Live! is scheduled to kick off on ABC.
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