Rosie O'Donnell Calls the End of Her Friendship with Ellen DeGeneres 'One of the Most Painful Things That Ever Happened'

Rosie O'Donnell is reflecting connected nan breakdown of her relationship pinch Ellen DeGeneres.

On nan Sept. 7 section of Mamamia's No Filter podcast, O'Donnell, 63, recalled really her relationship pinch DeGeneres, 67, ended pursuing a 2004 question and reply connected Larry King Live, during which nan erstwhile TV show big said she was not friends pinch O'Donnell.

According to nan Now and Then actress, DeGeneres was "in nan [same] position" O'Donnell had been successful 7 years prior, erstwhile DeGeneres came retired arsenic cheery connected her sitcom successful 1997.

"Instead of deciding to guidelines adjacent to maine and clasp my hand, which is what I did to her, she did nan opposite," O'Donnell said, referring to her support of DeGeneres aft she came out.

"That was, like, 1 of nan astir achy things that ever happened to me, successful show business, successful my life," nan comedian said of DeGeneres' comment.

"I couldn't judge it," she continued. "I person photos of her holding my newborn babies. I knew her for 30 years."

O'Donnell said that she "would person apologized" to DeGeneres, arsenic she claimed, "I deliberation successful her mind, she thinks I support rehashing it for pleasure."

"I don't rehash it for pleasure," she said of nan fallout. "I rehash it because our careers person taken benignant of parallel, interwoven paths."

In 2022, O'Donnell recalled nan aforesaid story during an quality connected Watch What Happens Live pinch Andy Cohen, and that question and reply ended up making its measurement backmost to DeGeneres.

The pursuing year, O'Donnell told The Hollywood Reporter that her erstwhile friend had reached retired to her to apologize.

"She texted maine a fewer weeks agone checking in, seeing really I’m doing, and I asked her really she’s surviving not being connected TV. It’s a large transition," O'Donnell said.

"I conjecture she saw maine talk astir it connected Andy Cohen’s show," she said of DeGeneres. "She wrote, ‘I’m really sorry, and I don’t retrieve that.’"

O'Donnell, successful contrast, told nan outlet she "remembered it truthful well," truthful overmuch truthful that she "had T-shirts printed and I gave them to my unit that said ‘I don’t cognize Rosie. We’re not friends,'" astatine nan time.

"I knew her for truthful galore years," she said of DeGeneres. "It conscionable felt like, I don’t spot this personification to beryllium successful my world."

Following O'Donnell's move to Ireland earlier this year, her fallout from DeGeneres again became a taxable of interest, fixed DeGeneres relocated to nan U.K. pinch her wife, Portia de Rossi, past year.

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When President Donald Trump threatened to revoke O'Donnell's U.S. citizenship and called her a "threat to humanity" — she's been vocal astir really her move was motivated by a desire to debar his administration — DeGeneres said up.

"Good for you," nan erstwhile Ellen big wrote successful an Instagram post, arsenic she shared some Trump's societal media station astir O'Donnell and nan comedian's response, which was posted connected Instagram successful July.