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Comedian Kathy Griffin revealed Tuesday she was “really hurt” that she wasn’t invited to appear during Rosie O’Donnell’s week guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, lamenting on her podcast that she is good friends with both of them.
“I’m going to be honest today,” Griffin said at the start of her “Talk Your Head Off” podcast. “I might cry. I am asking for your pity. I love a good pity cry. I’m going to be open and honest and hope you understand. And I’m trying to talk about something bigger than TV talk shows, but you know, I talk a lot about Hollywood and I give you the inside scoop, etc. But this one’s really personal.”
“I’m just going to come out and say it, are you ready?” she continued. “It’s embarrassing to say, but I have to tell you guys because we’re friends. My feelings are really hurt that I was not invited to go on Rosie’s week of the Jimmy Kimmel show.”
O’Donnell started guest hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday and will continue through Thursday. Kimmel revealed she would be stepping in earlier this year as a treat for President Donald Trump, whom O’Donnell criticizes frequently.
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Comedian Kathy Griffin speaks during the signing event for Liz Flynt’s new book “HUSTLER®50: 50 Years Of Freedom” at Barnes & Noble The Grove on Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. Rosie O’Donnell hosts “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Aug. 17, 2026. (Michael Tullberg/Getty Images; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
“We’re good pals,” Griffin said Tuesday of her relationship with O’Donnell. “We’re like sisters and everybody knows sisters fight, sisters and brothers fight. Best friends fight, relatives, co-workers fight. And we’re not even fighting.”
“I’m just being honest that when I found out that Rosie was going to take over for a full week for my beloved Jimmy Kimmel — I love that he said to the camera, ‘And I’m doing it as a special treat to Donald Trump’ — and I thought, ‘Oh, fantastic.’ He’s leaning into it and his viewers are honestly leaning more to the left,” she continued.
Griffin then brought up her infamous and controversial photo from 2017 that showed her holding a Halloween mask covered in fake blood that appeared to resemble Trump, which was widely condemned. She said she thought she would receive support from members of her community after the post and subsequent backlash.
“And instead, what happened was quite the opposite, and in my own community of Hollywood, of stand-up comedy, where you’re supposed to be edgy, you’re supposed to make political statements as well as be funny, she said. “In my opinion, that’s what the greats do, that’s who the greats I admire did. It did not go that way for me initially.”
Griffin said O’Donnell had made comments that were not supportive of her Trump head photo on a recent podcast, and said it had upset her. O’Donnell made the remarks on “The Tangle” with Kyle Ridley, and said she didn’t agree with Griffin’s decision to post the photo.
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Kathy Griffin on “The View” on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Lou Rocco/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. via Getty Images)
Griffin revealed she had a chance to catch up with O’Donnell on a recent flight to Los Angeles and noted that she told O’Donnell that she would love to be a guest.
“I mean, think about it,” Griffin said. “You’ve got these two women who share this very unique thing in common. And while what happened to me was much more extreme than what happened to Rosie, it’s pretty unusual that you’ve got these two women that have been so outspoken about — well he wasn’t the president when she talked about him on ‘The View.’ But, he was the president when I talked about him and as I have spoken about before most of Hollywood turned on me overnight.”
O’Donnell responded to Griffin on Instagram.
“Kathy — shoulda called me honey — I didn’t choose the guests …,” O’Donnell commented on Griffin’s Instagram post of her video.
Kimmel’s show did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Kathy Griffin appears on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (ABC via Getty Images)
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Griffin acknowledged that O’Donnell might have no say in booking the guests, despite guest hosting the show, and encouraged people to support her and continue watching Kimmel’s show.
O’Donnell has focused her monologues on Trump, referring to the president as “Mango Mussolini” during Monday’s episode.
Addressing Trump during her opening monologue on Tuesday, O’Donnell sarcastically credited the president with returning her to the network television spotlight.
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“I’m back in the spotlight all thanks to President Oompa J. Loompa, who is watching us this evening from inside a catering cart,” O’Donnell said. “You know, I couldn’t have done it without you, sweetie. You brought me back just like you did with fascism and the measles.”
