Rosie O’Donnell has to adhere to some strict rules during her hosting stint on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actress revealed.
On Monday’s On with Kara Swisher, O’Donnell told the host that she has been preemptively banned from singing a parody song about her longtime nemesis, Donald Trump. The song mocks Trump in more ways than one, set to the tune of “If I Only Had a Brain,” the bouncy anthem of the Scarecrow in 1939’s Wizard of Oz.
O’Donnell wanted to share the tune with Kimmel’s audience when she takes over as host of his show during the week of August 17, but the late-night show’s network wasn’t on board with the plan.
“I have been told I’m not allowed to do that,” O’Donnell told a stunned Swisher. “They couldn’t get permission for the parody because it’s political content,” she said.
Swisher, in turn, asked the Trump rival to sing a few lines for viewers of her podcast.
O’Donnell immediately belted out a few lines of the anti-Trump anthem: “His approval rate is 30 / His diaper’s always dirty / I think the guy’s insane / He ain’t no stable genius / Got a teeny tiny penis / And he doesn’t have a brain.”
MAGA has already expressed outrage over the song, with right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro dedicating a portion of his show to the tune. “She has decided that we all need to hear her re-writings of the lyrics to The Wizard of Oz so that she can talk about the president’s penis,” he said, before declaring the “lyrics were bad” and the piece was “tone-deaf.”
Trump has repeatedly called O’Donnell names on social media and in interviews over the course of their public feud, which began when she was a co-host on The View.
The relationship between the two has only continued to sour, culminating in O’Donnell’s fleeing the country ahead of his second inauguration. Trump has since floated revoking her U.S. citizenship.
The feud is likely to fuel O’Donnell’s content when she temporarily guest hosts for Trump’s other foe, Kimmel.
Kimmel’s feud with the president and his MAGA fanbase reached a climax last September, when the late-night host was pulled off the air for mocking MAGA’s reaction to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. His show was ultimately reinstated after just six days, and Kimmel has continued to use his platform to call out the president’s antics weekly.
These taunts have not gone unnoticed by Trump, who in April renewed demands that ABC fire Kimmel once and for all. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” the 80-year-old wrote in an extensive Truth Social post in response to a joke Kimmel made about first lady Melania Trump.
O’Donnell praised Kimmel, whose ratings have hit new records, for his tenacity in angering Trump. She also told Swisher she hopes to emulate the TV anchor during her tenure on his show.
“I plan on doing whatever we can and working with the writers and his team and honoring just how brave and bold he has been,” she said, adding, “I admire him greatly.”
She previously called out Kimmel’s suspension on Instagram, writing in a passionate post last September, “This is unacceptable—f--- this fascist administration and corrupt corporate executives—bowing to the orange monster—America is no more 🥲."
Kimmel choosing O’Donnell to complete his roster of summer guest hosts is no coincidence.
“We have assembled a potent group of hosts to fill in for me,” the host announced in June. “As a special treat for our commander in chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites—Rosie O’Donnell—to be here to keep the hits coming.”
He added, “You’re welcome.”
