As Twitchy reported recently, Rosie O'Donnell, who was one of the few celebrities to keep their word and move out of the country after President Donald Trump was reelected, was back in the States last week to fill in for a vacationing Jimmy Kimmel. As we reported, her entire shtick was shots at "Mango Mussolini." Trump drove her to Ireland, and he reportedly lured her back: "I couldn't have done it without you, sweetie. You brought me back—just like you did with fascism and the measles."
I never watch late-night TV, and I certainly never watch Jimmy Kimmel, and there was no chance I was going to sit through a week of Rosie O'Donnell's "comedy." We know that Jim Acosta was watching, as he gave O'Donnell a thumbs-up for singing a satirical "Donnie Boy" — obviously crafted by a team in the writers' room. "Measles are back. Inflation is a swelling. You post all night. You're sleeping while you work."
O'Donnell is not well. TDS is real, and she has a terminal case. It's actually kind of sad that she's so obsessed. She's not mentally well.
Variety, though, thinks that O'Donnell should "shatter comedy's greatest glass ceiling" by hosting her own show on late-night TV. What do they mean by comedy? Insane rantings about the president aren't funny. Besides, she already had her own daytime show a couple of decades back when she was still mildly popular and didn't have Trump to talk about.
Rosie O’Donnell Should Host Her Own Show on Late Night TV — and Shatter Comedy’s Greatest Glass Ceiling https://t.co/kPE4Ok0zuw
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2026
Daniel D'Addario writes:
Enter Rosie O’Donnell. The comedian and Donald Trump antagonist just spent a week filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, and the results were TV magic. Over four nights, O’Donnell, the 1990s talk show host whose two stints on “The View” both fizzled out, proved that she may yet have another act, and it may be on one of television’s grandest — diminished, but still grandest — stages.
…
Who knows if she’d get the chance — Kimmel perennially makes noise about wanting to leave, but hasn’t yet — or if she’d want to. (Although the fact of her returning to the U.S. before the end of the Trump presidency, which she once swore she wouldn’t, suggests a bit of fire in the belly.) But one wonders if the industry, not just viewers, shares the sense that the TV landscape is significantly more interesting with O’Donnell in it — and that interest is exactly what late night is lacking.
"The results were TV magic."
Uh huh. pic.twitter.com/kM0iSmSAD2
— Will Collier (@willcollier) August 24, 2026
I guess Joan Rivers did not shatter that ceiling, decades ago.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 24, 2026
But we all agree, the one thing needed is a FOURTH talk host yammering about the president - every - single - night. https://t.co/ijDFVY5WCM
Joan Rivers had a late night show in the 1980s. Idiots don't remember or can't Google. pic.twitter.com/l1LCwuFUYf
— Joffrey Baratheon-Lannister (@JoffreyKingof7K) August 24, 2026
Joan Rivers was more talented and funnier within the first 10 seconds of waking up every day than Rosie O'Donnell has been collectively during her entire life. pic.twitter.com/v245yrBEqO
— Everybody is Insane (@colorblindk1d) August 24, 2026
How much did they pay you to post that, Variety? How much did they pay you to plant the seeds and test the waters for her return to being a talk show host again? Cause we can all practically tell the check from Disney was in the mail to remotely push this psychotic idea!
— csmith123891 (@CS56582359) August 24, 2026
Ask Colbert about being fixated on the Big Orange Monster.. TDS cannot power a full blown show, audiences want to be entertained, not preaching endlessly, pushing narratives and at times just straight up lying. Rosie has become the crazy lady car crash..
— Bone Michaels (@BoneFM) August 24, 2026
Sure consumers are actually starved for Trump resistance late night shows with only several remaining
— SM (@Scottymcmahon22) August 24, 2026
Quite literally the thing NOBODY is asking for.
— What a joke! (@cclautice) August 24, 2026
— Chud Costanza (@chudcostanza) August 24, 2026
We need people who are actually funny back in late night instead.
— SFL Commissioner (@sflone) August 24, 2026
Joan Rivers was actually funny.
O'Donnell would have to move back to the United States, or at least fly back and forth every week to tape the program. She needs to stay in Ireland, where she's safe. And we're safe from her.
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