Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is turning over the reins of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to one of President Donald Trump’s most notorious enemies while he takes a two-month hiatus from the show.
Kimmel announced this week that actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell will serve as one of several guest hosts filling in during his absence. Other scheduled hosts include Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, and Jelly Roll.
While announcing the break, Kimmel made light of his own brief suspension last year following false statements he made after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I hope you’re paying attention this summer, because I will be taking the next two months off — this time voluntarily,” Kimmel joked.
He then took a swipe at President Trump, adding, “And 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. You’re welcome, and all I ask in return, Mr. President, is that you don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
The actress has maintained one of the longest-running public feuds with Trump, dating back nearly two decades. Their rivalry began in 2006 after O’Donnell criticized Trump on The View, prompting years of public exchanges through interviews, social media, and campaign events.
In recent years, O’Donnell has said the ongoing conflict took a significant toll on her mental health.
“I was very, very depressed. I was overeating. I was overdrinking,” she told journalist Chris Cuomo while discussing Trump’s presidency. “It hurt my heart that America believed the lies about him. And then it broke my heart to be in a business that creates and sells those lies for profit.”
Following Trump’s return to the White House, O’Donnell relocated to Ireland, describing the move as an act of “self-preservation.” She has said the decision was motivated by a desire to protect her mental health and escape the stress she associated with American politics.
“When I got here, I noticed right away there was a different culture about celebrity. They’re not lauded in Ireland. They’re not thought of as better than anyone else,” O’Donnell said. “Coming home here felt like coming home.”
Her brother has since publicly defended the move, saying relocating overseas was the best decision she could have made.
Despite living abroad, O’Donnell has remained an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. In recent months, she has continued making political appearances and media interviews, including advancing claims that Trump could attempt to suspend future elections through a manufactured national emergency, drawing widespread attention online.
Her upcoming stint as guest host suggests the political themes embraced by Jimmy Kimmel Live! are likely to continue uninterrupted while Kimmel is away, with one of Trump’s most persistent critics stepping behind the desk until his return.
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She left the U.S. for her mental health?
What mental health?
Now she’s come back to the U.S. ( what a shame! ) and is going to ‘do’ a show that is the very kind thing that she said she had to leave.
Soooo, how much of her crap are we to believe?
Did she have to get away from her live-in ‘girlfriend’?