Trump again floats revoking Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship
President Trump renewed his feud with comedian Rosie O’Donnell by threatening to revoke her U.S. citizenship again.
Straight Arrow News
Despite a contentious past with Rosie O’Donnell, said she would be open to returning to “The View” after more than a decade.
The 64-year-old comedian suggested on the Monday, Aug. 3, episode of the “Tangle With Kyle Ridley” podcast that she might be back in the studio to celebrate the daytime talk show’s 30th season.
“I will go on the 30th anniversary next year and be on in whatever way they want me, just as a guest. They’re bringing back all the hosts, I think, for the 30th season,” she said. “I’m proud of that show and what it’s become and how it really speaks to people and politics. And that’s not the case when I first joined.”
In a statement to USA TODAY, a representative for O’Donnell clarified, “There was a mention of inviting some of the hosts back to ‘The View’ as a guest during Season 30, there has not been a formal ask from the show at this time.”
USA TODAY has reached out to “The View” for comment.
O’Donnell joined the ABC talk show in 2006, taking over for cohost and moderator Meredith Vieira. The outspoken comic departed the show the following year on the heels of a heated on-air confrontation with cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck and a reported failure to reach a contract renewal with the network.
Whoopi Goldberg was then brought on the show to replace O’Donnell as the moderator. The two shared the screen years later, when O’Donnell returned to “The View” in 2014. O’Donnell exited the show five months later, citing heart issues.
The current lineup includes Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro.
Is Rosie O’Donnell returning to daytime TV?
The “League of Their Own” actress, who moved to Ireland during President Donald Trump’s second term due to what she called an “overwhelmingly depressing, unconstitutional, illegal [and] criminal” political climate in the United States, has recently floated the possibility of returning to daytime TV.
In a July 27 Instagram post denying speculation that she was eyeing a late-night hosting gig after accepting a guest host role on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” O’Donnell wrote that she plans to remain in Ireland as her child starts eighth grade.
“I’m not interested in doing late night – daytime however would be interesting,” she added.
Where Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg stand today
O’Donnell – who recently opened up on “Andy Cohen Live” about being friendly with the “very kind” Goldberg “since our disastrous tag-team hellacious ‘View’ extravaganza” – speculated about why their relationship took a nosedive more than a decade prior.
“I admire [Whoopi], wanted to be on her team. I admire her EGOT status. I have respect for her. And I expected we would be like Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan passing the ball back and forth and then shooting and leading the team to victory,” O’Donnell told Ridley on his podcast. “But that’s not exactly what happened.”
“I think maybe she felt encroached upon in some way, and I was never trying to encroach,” she continued. “I was just doing it the way that I knew how to do it, and it didn’t go so well.”
Now, “we’ve gotten past it,” O’Donnell said.
The Emmy-winning “Rosie O’Donnell Show” host has previously spoken about having a contentious relationship with Goldberg during their talk show tenure. In an interview for the 2019 book “Ladies Who Punch,” an exposé on the daytime telecast by Ramin Setoodeh, O’Donnell described working with Goldberg as the “worst experience I’ve ever had on live television.”
O’Donnell later criticized Setoodeh for his portrayal of “The View,” calling her 20-minute interview with the Variety editor-in-chief my “biggest regret.”
Contributing: Edward Segarra