Rosie: I'm Rich Enough to be Nasty

PageSix..com ^ | 2002-10-10 | Michael Starr

[Lorenb420]

ROSIE O'Donnell says her talk show lost its appeal after she got into an on-air dust-up with Tom Selleck - and says she's "not that nice."

O'Donnell made headlines when, in May 1999, she lambasted Selleck for appearing on NRA ads when he visited "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" to promote his new movie, "The Love Letter."

"The first few years I could hardly believe what was happening . . . these big stars like Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand sitting next to me," O'Donnell tells Isaac Mizrahi in an upcoming interview on Oxygen's "Isaac Mizrahi Show."

"Then it got a little crazy with the whole Tom Selleck NRA thing . . .

"I do like [not having a show], but it's hard to say that without people not thinking that you're ungrateful," she says.

"I'm so grateful. It's given me and my family everything I could ever dream of . . . But that's only part of who I am and after a while it . . . became a little oppressive.

"Everyone thought, 'Oh, you're so nice.' I'm not that nice. I'm a very biting, caustic, sarcastic person."

O'Donnell spends the majority of her interview with Mizrahi getting the short haircut (courtesy of stylist Ashley Javier) that she's worn since leaving her show last spring.

O'Donnell also explains to Mizrahi why she decided to bolt "Rosie."

"The temptation was to stay at the job even when the thrill of doing it was gone," she says. "That was just money, and you know what Isaac, I've got enough money."

She also talks about her long history of depression.

"For years I fought going on medication . . . but after Columbine I had no choice because I couldn't sleep well," she says. "[Columbine] affected me in a way that was hard to articulate."

O'Donnell, who came out as a lesbian shortly before her show went off the air, also addresses critics who scolded her for "hiding" her sexuality.

"I think you can live your life as a gay person in the way that I did - never hiding it from anyone, attending every event with [galpal] Kelli [Carpenter], never pretending to have a boyfriend.

"These people were going, 'She was pretending' [to be straight].

"I don't feel like I ever pretended anything. You've got to do what's true for you."

O'Donnell's interview airs Monday, Oct. 21 at 10:30 p.m. on Oxygen.

[TomServo]

What a pig.

[ChadGore]

limo libs < / shaking head >

[apillar]

"Rosie: I'm Rich Enough to be Nasty"

She might not be for long if her publisher win the $300 Million dollar lawsuit against her.

[billbears]

"[Columbine] affected me in a way that was hard to articulate."

How, Rollie? How did a tragedy that you were not associated with in anyway whatsoever affect you? Just because the criminals used guns?

[steve-b]

"I think you can live your life as a gay person in the way that I did - never hiding it from anyone, attending every event with [galpal] Kelli [Carpenter]"

Either Kelli is quite the "popular" galpal, or Rosie needs to work on her skill with the English language.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Yes, when the lesbian thespian (she was in "A League of Their Own") berated Mr. Selleck, it was the beginning of the end for Ms. O'Donut. The hypocrisy of being for gun control while you yourself have a cadre of armed bodyguards was a bit much for even her star-struck fans. By the way, Rosie (and Ms. Brady--feel free to answer--):
Suppose you are up on the roof of your condo in Maryland or Virginia to adjust your satellite dish. Suddenly, ten feet away, you see a man with a long-range rifle set up on a tripod, pointed at the schoolyard across the street. At that point, do you:
a. Call 911.
b. Scream as loud as you can.
c. Watch in horror as he slowly turns the weapon on you.
d. Blow his freaking head off with the handgun you carry for protection.

[discipler]

"[Columbine] affected me in a way that was hard to articulate."

The reason being that nonsense is hard to 'articulate.' Rosie is a perverted slob and I imagine that is affecting her more than an act of violence in another part of the world (as bad as it was).

[lsee]

I admit to liking Rosie in her early days. She could be very funny and always seemed so delighted to meet the people who visited her show. I don't watch daytime television much, but saw her show a time or two. She definitely hid her "biting, caustic, sarcastic" side from the general public in those days and never let on she was a lesbian.

My kids even know who she is from her appearances on Sesame Street and her toys at Toys R Us. Now when they say, "look, there's Rosie" on a magazine cover or on television, I have to explain to them that Rosie turned out not to be a very nice person after all.

I'm sorry for her depression, having suffered through that myself, but I can say from personal experience that sometimes depression is a signal that you're making wrong choices in life. I'd say she had great personal potential and selfishly squandered it.

[cricket]

She may be rich enough; who cares. . .but anyone who suffers the 'nasties' should stay home until the contagion has passed.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Guess whick one wears the dinkshorts:

[sharktrager]

She's also nasty enough to make me hurl. It didn't take her being rich either, although having enough money for an endless supply of Haagen-Dazs didn't hurt.

[T'wit]

I was going to compare Rosie to Leona Helmsley, but on second thought, it wouldn't be fair. Helmsley at her imperious worst was ever so much nicer. And she never let herself look like the wrong end of the barn.

[Landru]

"'Everyone thought, 'Oh, you're so nice.' I'm not that nice. I'm a very biting, caustic, sarcastic person.""

>?<
Nawwwwww!!
Are we to take this as her real, "coming out"??

Who'd a thunk there was actually a brutal, evil, screwed-up butch lurking there all along.

...under her blubbery hide. :o)

[Ditter]

I am so glad I never contributed in any way to her wealth. I never went to see her stand up act, never watched her TV show or supported the advertizers, never bought or even looked at) a single issue of the magazine. Bu bye Rosie. How about just being a private citizen for the rest of your life.

[Wondervixen]

>> ROSIE O'Donnell says her talk show lost its appeal after she got into an on-air dust-up with Tom Selleck - and says she's "not that nice."

Duh?

[ladyinred]

Everyone thought, 'Oh, you're so nice.' I'm not that nice

The truth at last Rosie!
I must say, I can't find fault with her comments about her lesbianism. I would much prefer that gays do as she did, just live their lives and keep their sexuality to themselves. Anyone who didn't know, or suspect her preferences was just kidding themselves anyway.

[Maceman]

She was nasty when nasty wasn't cool.

[Wondervixen]

>> O'Donnell, who came out as a lesbian shortly before her show went off the air...

Duh?

[dead]

To be honest, I really prefer the openly nasty Rosie to the fawning saccharine Rosie.

And at least she never adopted the wounded victim pose that every other celebrity adopts when they become suddenly controversial.

If you're a jerk, just be a jerk. And don't apologize.