Rosie O’Donnell Sets Record Straight on Jimmy Kimmel Job Rumor as TV Return Buzz Grows
Rosie O’Donnell denied a report that she is trying to permanently replace Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! but mentioned that returning to daytime television “would be interesting.”
O’Donnell is set to guest-host the ABC show during the week of Aug. 17 while Kimmel takes his usual two-month summer break.
Globe magazine reached out for comment on a story claiming she was “eyeing a full-time return to late night” and might be “willing to go behind his back with ABC executives” to get the job permanently. O’Donnell shared a screenshot of the email and her reply on Instagram on July 27.
“Ha funny, and completely untrue,” she wrote. “I leave for Ireland the day I’m done guest hosting for Jimmy, where my child starts the 8th grade. I’m not interested in doing late night. Daytime, however, would be interesting.”
Kimmel announced O’Donnell’s guest-hosting slot in June, calling it “a special treat for our commander in chief” and mentioning that she would help “keep the hits coming” during his break.
The veteran comedian-host is, of course, referring to O’Donnell’s two-decade feud with President Donald Trump.
Other guest hosts filling in for Kimmel this summer include Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, and Jelly Roll.
ABC suspended Kimmel in 2025 over remarks he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. His current contract with the network runs through May 2027.
O’Donnell’s comment about daytime TV came after weeks of speculation about a possible return to The View.
She said on The Tangle with Kyle Ridley podcast this month that she expected to appear during the show’s 30th-anniversary season, mentioning she’d go “in whatever way they want me, but just as a guest.”
A representative for O’Donnell later told Entertainment Weekly there were “no current plans” for her to appear, noting that co-host Ana Navarro had mentioned the idea to O’Donnell but that “nothing has been formalized.” Executive producer Brian Teta posted on X that “lots of plans are in the works, but no invites have gone out.”
O’Donnell served as The View moderator during the 2006-07 season and returned as a co-host in 2014-15, leaving after one season each time.
She also hosted The Rosie O’Donnell Show from 1996 to 2002 and The Rosie Show on OWN in 2012.
She said she left The Rosie O’Donnell Show after earning $100 million, telling Page Six this month, “I wanted to be at their softball games. I wanted to be at school plays.”
O’Donnell mentioned that her relationship with David Letterman’s Late Show team became tense after she offered to guest-host while Letterman recovered from emergency quintuple bypass surgery in 2000.
She said the offer was seen as an attempt to profit from his illness. O’Donnell later guest appeared on the show in 2006 and 2014.
O’Donnell moved to Ireland in January 2025 and has been pursuing Irish citizenship. Her guest-hosting week with Kimmel will mark her first time filling in on a late-night program.
