CNN
—
There’s water under the bridge, but there’s a reason Rosie O’Donnell never appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.
During a recent appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” Cohen mentioned how much he loved the “Lebanese” moment O’Donnell had with DeGeneres on the former’s talk show.
Cohen was referring to DeGeneres’ 1996 appearance on O’Donnell’s daytime talk show in which the two playfully danced around speculation that DeGeneres was gay. She was officially released months later.
Cohen then asked O’Donnell why she never appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” which ended in May after 19 seasons.
“After my show went off the air and his show went on, Larry King was with Ellen and he said, ‘What happened to Rosie O’Donnell? His show hit the charts. She became a lesbian and disappeared,” O’Donnell explained. “And Ellen said, and I quote, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.'”
O’Donnell said she was watching with his then-wife, Kelli Carpenter, whom she asked, “Did I just hear that or was it, like, a mind-blowing auditory voice?”
“I’m like, no,” O’Donnell said. ” And that’s what happened. It hurt me like a baby and I never really got over it.
CNN has reached out to a representative for DeGeneres for comment.