Rosie O’Donnell Crushed That ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Monologue
What did you expect when Rosie O’Donnell was announced as making her talk show return by substituting for Jimmy Kimmel as a guest host on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live? You probably expected O’Donnell, after leaving Donald Trump’s America for Ireland in 2025 ago in search of “a more peaceful life,” to come out swinging at the president. You probably expected O’Donnell to come across like how conservatives paint her — angry and strident, going full blast at Trump’s second-term corruption allegations and policy blunders. What viewers got instead (video below) during the first night of O’Donnell’s weeklong stint, was so much better and more interesting, a monologue that said a lot about her and even more about what’s lacking in typical late-night discourse. First, O’Donnell showed she hasn’t slipped at all since her days hosting her 1990s-era talk show, The Rosie O’Donnell Show. The 64-year-old radiated confidence and charm. O’Donnell nodded to Trump at the start of her 15-minute opener, calling him “Mango Mussolini” and saying, “If you thought that the president hated Jimmy Kimmel …







