Does anyone say no to the fabulous Miss “O?”
Apparently, if your name is Rosie O’Donnell the answer is yes. Yes, Ro said no to “O” — as in the legendary talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.
In a move that has made headlines around the world (go ahead, roll your eyes), the comedian confirms that she turned down a recent invitation by Winfrey to promote her upcoming autobiography, “Celebrity Detox” on air. O’Donnell says she decided not to go on the No.1 daytime talk show in America because the subject matter in her new book is “too raw.”
Oh, puh-leeze. First of all, it is worth noting that the former “View” co-host is not turning down all interview requests. O’Donnell is scheduled to sit down with ABC’s Diane Sawyer on October 9th – the book’s official publication date. The interview will run on “Good Morning America” and you can bet that Sawyer is going to touch on the hundreds of “raw moments” that serve as the book’s entire premise, including her disparaging remarks regarding her former boss Barbara Walters.
So why go face-to-face with Sawyer and not with the woman who other authors would chop off their writing hands to sit down with? Everyone knows that whatever Oprah touches turns to gold (an appearance on Winfrey’s show almost guarantees an author’s work will end up on the best-seller’s list). So why diss Winfrey?
According to O’Donnell she isn’t “dissing” the legendary talk show host at all. In fact, once word got out that Donald Trump’s nemesis declined Winfrey’s offer (and rumors started flying) O’Donnell wrote an open letter to the Chicago-based talk show queen and posted it on her personal website.
The letter was written in O’Donnell’s trademark haiku style and read in part: “the book was hard to write … i do not feel ready to discuss or defend the things i shared on those 209 pages.”
So are we to assume that Sawyer is not going to ask pointed questions about the book’s content?
In her note to Ms. “O,” the 45-year-old actress tries to down play her move:
oprah is a force of nature
her invitation made me cry
her kind words about the book
reinforces what we all know
2 b true about her
For her part, Winfrey told TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” that she enjoyed O’Donnell’s book.
“I thought Rosie in this book was so candid about what it’s like to live a life in front of other people,” Winfrey told the entertainment show.
In O’Donnell’s book she also admits that she has a tendency to partake in self-destructive behavior. Perhaps, that explains O’Donnell’s decision not to appear on Oprah’s show to promote her new book.