O\u2019Donnell begins guest hosting Kimmel\u2019s late night show tonight<\/p>\n
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Rosie O\u2019Donnell is set to begin a week-long guest hosting stint on Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/p>\n
However, she shared in a new interview that she has never actually met the host himself in person.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell, 64, told Variety that the offer to guest host Kimmel\u2019s eponymous ABC talk show \u201ccame out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never spoken on the phone; we\u2019ve texted a few times,\u201d she told the publication. \u201cHoward Stern tried to make amends with us, so we\u2019ve been at the same parties a few times and I would talk to his wife. But Jimmy was never a fan of mine, and it was kind of an adversarial relationship \u2014 not that I was fighting back, but I was like, \u2018OK, one of the bro guys\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The former The View host said the nature of her relationship with Kimmel took a turn when she reached out to the comedian following the death of his uncle, former NYPD officer Frank Potenza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen everything happened with his uncle dying, I wrote him and he wrote back. So, when my publicist called and said, \u2018Do you want to guest-host \u2018Kimmel\u2019 for a week?\u2019 I said, \u2018I haven\u2019t ever even been a guest!\u2019 And then I said, \u2018If you\u2019re positive that that\u2019s an actual offer and he wants me to do it, then I most certainly will,\u2019\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised, to tell you the truth, and very thankful,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell also added that she admires Kimmel and supports \u201cwhat he\u2019s doing with the First Amendment, and our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government that\u2019s enshrined in the Founding Fathers\u2019 writings about our government, so I think he\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimmel and O\u2019Donnell are two of Donald Trump\u2019s most vocal critics and are known for their long-running feuds with the president.<\/p>\n
In announcing his list of guest hosts before taking time away, Kimmel told his audience in June: \u201cAnd as a special treat for our commander in chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O\u2019Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re welcome, and all I ask in return, Mr. President, is that you don\u2019t do anything stupid while I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell\u2019s bitter feud with Trump stretches back to 2006, when she was a host on The View.<\/p>\n