Ellen DeGeneres’ Shocking Betrayal of Rosie O’Donnell Exposed: ‘I Couldn’t Believe It

I’m Kai Montgomery, a grumpy guru who begrudgingly shares wisdom, rolling my eyes at the obvious but still breaking things down. As I dive into the juicy details of a decades-old celebrity feud, I’ll spare you the drama – but only just.

Rosie O’Donnell, 63, recently spilled the tea on her strained relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, 67, on Kate Langbroek’s “No Filter” podcast. The two comedians had been friends for nearly 30 years, but their bond began to fray in 1997 when DeGeneres came out as gay on her sitcom “Ellen.” O’Donnell, who was still in the closet at the time, felt a deep connection to DeGeneres’ character and decided to support her on her daytime talk show, “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”

During the interview, DeGeneres made a joke about her character becoming Lebanese, and O’Donnell responded by saying she could also be Lebanese because she was a fan of American disc jockey Casey Kasem. This subtle nod was a coded message that only the LGBTQ+ community understood, and it was a moment of solidarity between the two women.

However, O’Donnell revealed that DeGeneres never appreciated this moment of support. In fact, their friendship began to fracture after that. The final blow came when DeGeneres appeared on “Larry King Live” and denied knowing O’Donnell when asked about the demise of her talk show. O’Donnell was devastated, feeling as though DeGeneres had betrayed her.

“I couldn’t believe it,” O’Donnell admitted, still visibly hurt by the experience. “I have photos of her holding my newborn babies. I knew her for 30 years. It was so upsetting to me that I had t-shirts made [that said] ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends’ and I gave them out to my staff.”

O’Donnell also noted that she was never invited on DeGeneres’ new talk show, which debuted in 2003, until many seasons later. The production team was the same as her own show, which made the snub even more painful.

While O’Donnell doesn’t blame DeGeneres for seizing the moment and coming out, she does think her ex-pal could have handled things differently. “I did think that she was all of a sudden in the position I was in, where she was starting a show and wanted it to be successful and get the money and the accolades that came with it,” O’Donnell explained. “And instead of deciding to stand next to me and hold my hand, which is what I did to her, she did the opposite. I couldn’t believe it.”

This shocking betrayal has left a lasting impact on O’Donnell, and it’s clear that the wound still hasn’t fully healed. As for DeGeneres, her representatives have yet to comment on the matter.

In the end, it’s clear that even the most seemingly perfect friendships can be flawed. And sometimes, it’s the people closest to us who can hurt us the most.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and The New York Post
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed