Althouse: Give Rosie O'Donnell credit for a nice comeback, telling 2 charming stories of her life in Ireland.

August 18, 2026

Give Rosie O'Donnell credit for a nice comeback, telling 2 charming stories of her life in Ireland.

She barely gestures at Trump. I think she wants to be "Queen of Nice" again. Give her a chance and watch with charity:

59 comments:

Ann Althouse said...: I would appreciate your taking the time to watch the clip before commenting. I'm trying to show you something. I know many of you don't like her, but please don't comment just to say you're not watching the clip.; 8/18/26, 5:33 PM
Arashi said...: Ok, I watched the clip. My thoughts in random order. So either really good make-up person or maybe some recent work? Suit was a bit weird. The comedy bits and phony Irish accent was pretty lame. Her expressed warm regard for Ireland and the Irish is a bit at odds with reports in the Irish press, but who knows. So she intends to go back after her brief guest appearances.

The only question I have is she still doing her daily Orange Man Bad on the 'net rants or has she stopped doing that and moved onto something else?

The entire clip emphasizes why all of the late night TV talk shows are dying.

Anyway..; 8/18/26, 5:51 PM
R C Belaire said...: I feel like Schrödinger's cat considering the constraints stipulated by our host. That is all.; 8/18/26, 5:53 PM
PrimoStL said...: OMG Woke 1 was so crazzzzy you guys! Now let me tell you a couple charming stories about my life in Ireland...; 8/18/26, 5:55 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @R C Belaire I want comments responsive to the posts, not things people already wanted to say, especially at the beginning of the thread. I don't like when my effort to present new material is met with routine statements of general preexisting opinions.; 8/18/26, 5:56 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Notice the first line of the instructions for commenting: "Please use the comments forum to respond to the post."; 8/18/26, 5:57 PM
Aggie said...: She looks like she's headed for Nashville, somebody hand her a gee-tar. 'Barely gestures at Trump', I must be seeing a different video. Didn't she just reinforce that she hates him more, than vice-versa, then she made a snotty 'I know you're watching' cat call?

I guess I'll admit she's just as funny and interesting as she always was.; 8/18/26, 5:59 PM
Eva Marie said...: Koosh ball reference from her show 30 years ago? (I had to look it up)
Not her first rodeo so she wears that awful outfit? Worse taste than Hillary Clinton.
Mentions Trump 5 times, or was it 6 (?) and then says she hasn’t mentioned him?
How do we know everyone recognizes her in Ireland? Because she kept telling her audience.
She’s aware the Hitler references were getting stale so she calls Trump Mussolini. Really?
And the Irish jokes, just not well delivered or maybe because the Trump hate had to be sprinkled in there, I didn’t get a sense of place from her.
And it’s aimed at Trump haters, no attempt to just reach a general audience and be funny.
Even on the most generous scale, no credit given.; 8/18/26, 6:25 PM
Lance said...: She's wearing a Nudie Suit. As in a suit following the style of Nudie Cohn. Famously worn by Country singers, but as with all things blues-adjacent also adopted by rock and folk acts.; 8/18/26, 6:28 PM
Not an oldster. said...: She mocks the Irish and lesbians. Very funny.

Punch lower, Mrs,. Annie Meade
Your time will come and we will all one day laugh in kind at you both...; 8/18/26, 6:31 PM
Not an oldster. said...: I dont think ann finds this funny...
I suspect it's a personal shot.
Cheap, but that's how the proffy rolls...

You're the best, lady, never change...; 8/18/26, 6:33 PM
Achilles said...: She barely gestures at Trump.

Are you joking or serious?; 8/18/26, 6:36 PM
Not an oldster. said...: I think ann is pushing this trash because she hates the Ir28sh,
And she wanted all of you to see that Rosie is referring 5o her adopted child Clay with she/her pronouns again... big whip.

She is the same unfunny fat cow. All she needs are fart jokes. Enjoy, ann.; 8/18/26, 6:37 PM
Achilles said...: It is interesting that the dumb bitch decided to return to the country despite the Mango Mussolini.

It is almost as if the dumb bitch doesn't believe a single word she says.; 8/18/26, 6:38 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Congrads to the make up artist and the clothes designer. Rosie looks fabulous. And after seeing what she looks like in real life, thats an acomplishment.

I tried to listen to all the cute stories about Ireland - but couldn't make it. Nice to know that Ireland has a late late show thats been on for 60 years. Weirdly, if wikipedia is correct, its only broadcast between May and September.; 8/18/26, 7:30 PM
Hassayamper said...: The "Nudie Suit" was modeled on flamboyant Western wear created for rodeo competitors and entertainers by a tailor named Fay Ward in the early 1940's. He had been a working cowboy and rodeo rider himself before going into the garment business. His creations can be found in the Country Music Hall of Fame and other museums.

He was also a celebrated cowboy poet and a very talented artist, and his book "The Cowboy at Work" (with 500 of his own hand-drawn pen and ink illustrations) is the most definitive, authentic book ever published on how cowboys of the 20th century did their jobs.

My grandfather and he were friends, and I have some valuable mementos that Ward gave him and I inherited.

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/meet-the-man-who-made-cowboys-love-rhinestones/; 8/18/26, 7:32 PM
Big Mike said...: Four minutes into the clip and I’m throwing up in my mouth. “Mango Mussolini”? Her kid telling classmates that their move to a foreign country “because the President of the United Ststes hates my mother”? Riiiiight.

I wasted four minutes, plus the time to type this. That’s time this 80 year old begrudges.; 8/18/26, 7:32 PM
PrimoStL said...: Harpies are like herpes. They tell you they're leaving and disappear for a while, but they still come back.; 8/18/26, 7:36 PM
Howard said...: 1950's schtick. I'm surprised she didn't say she's got a million of 'em and she'll be here all week.; 8/18/26, 7:37 PM
Eva Marie said...: That’s the part I found distasteful. Her 6th grade child actually believes that they had to move to Ireland because the President hates Mom.
1. How could you do that to your kid?
2. How could you be proud of doing that to your kid?; 8/18/26, 7:40 PM
Bill Crawford said...: I appreciated her self-depreciating story about the pharmacist at the end.; 8/18/26, 7:52 PM
Joe Bar said...: Okie Dokie.; 8/18/26, 8:10 PM
Peachy+2 said...: I did watch some of it. When she go to the oh... "But you've been thru so much" (boo hoo- she cannot handle when team D loses) that's when I stopped. .; 8/18/26, 8:28 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: THe Democrat Leftwing control over the Media has become so strong we have TV talk show hosts getting into fights with the POTUS. Imagine Carson getting in a fight with Reagan, or even Lettermann in the 90s getting in a fight with Bob Dole and George Bush.

I suspect Rose has been taking the new weight loss drugs. No doubt that's why she doesn't weight 350 lbs anymore.; 8/18/26, 8:32 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Also, just noticed that like many showbiz types Rose has a big head. The Lollypop look seems common among them.; 8/18/26, 8:34 PM
Jim Gust said...: I watched the whole thing. There was as much Trump hate as on any of the Kimmel bits I've seen (I haven't seen many). That was not the queen of nice, IMHO. Nothing I'd call funny, but a couple of amusing moments. Did not inspire me to see the rest of the show. I believe she did Ozempic and had a face lift. Not that there's anything wrong with that--but she does not have the talent to host a talk show.; 8/18/26, 9:21 PM
Martin said...: "Give her a chance and watch with charity"
No.; 8/18/26, 9:40 PM
Eva Marie said...: It’s interesting how many instances of TDS we on the right saw whereas for those on the left that seems to be just the default position.; 8/18/26, 9:50 PM
Rabel said...: "Give her a chance and watch with charity"

I see no reason to. Her history tells me that she would not return the charitability.; 8/18/26, 11:09 PM
Jack Klompus Astronaut Pen said...: "THe Democrat Leftwing control over the Media"
Just say "Jews." You know you want to.; 8/19/26, 12:15 AM
Eva Marie said...: JKAP, What are you talking about? You don’t think the left wing of the Democrat Party doesn’t control the media? Why do you think they are so anti Israel?; 8/19/26, 12:46 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: “ I would appreciate your taking the time to watch the clip before commenting. I'm trying to show you something. I know many of you don't like her, but please don't comment just to say you're not watching the clip.”

I watched as much as I could. I’ve honestly never seen her before. Thank you for making me grateful for that. I hear gratitude is supposed to be good for you.; 8/19/26, 12:47 AM
wendybar said...: Her poor ungendered kid. The one she got the "They" tattoo for to remind her what the 12 year old confused kid wants to be called. Why is her kid confused?? Look at the whacked out mother....; 8/19/26, 2:28 AM
Gunner said...: She is still almost entirely obsessed with hating Trump. Made no effort to put it aside.; 8/19/26, 5:28 AM
Eva Marie said...: “The one she got the "They" tattoo for to remind her what the 12 year old confused kid wants to be called.“
How could she not remember what her child wants to be referred as? This is all performative.
Also, keep your kid’s life private.; 8/19/26, 5:45 AM
rehajm said...: …I don’t have an obligation to rehabilitate Rosie O’Donnell and I don’t take kindly to people obligating me to react to something in certain way or not to react in a certain way. It’s censorship of the type I’d be subjected to in academics once in a while. It’s offensive…and I don't like when my effort to present new material is met with routine statements of general preexisting opinions so don’t react with the usual ‘get your own blog’ or some such….see- not much fun is it?; 8/19/26, 6:15 AM
rcommal said...: Ok. Got my shield. And ready to duck.

I thought a lot of it was pretty funny--the story of the near-miss accident, the story of the Lollipop Lady (or whatever she was called), and the story of the pharmacist. I am confident I would have found those funny if it weren't Rosie O'Donnell.

As far as bashing President Trump goes, I thought it was pretty mild, and it was not the focus of the majority of the standup routine. It was a small percentage.

My default position is to ignore that. I'm not interested in personal bashing of ANY president. By anyone. It's not my thing, and you'll notice that I never do that myself. When it gets extended, I just leave. People have a right to dislike something. I have a right to avoid commentary I don't like. That's pretty much it.

Do I like it when people bash presidents, any presidents? No, not particularly. In the case of our current president, we are in a different position. Say what you will, we do have a president who, if he doesn't like someone, seems to enjoy bashing them. That's his style, and while I might not like it, others do and it his right. He punches down pretty routinely. It's his style. If I don't like it, I can ignore it. Which I largely do. I do have a real issue when that bashing includes service members. But even then. He was duly elected, and that's part of the style.

I live in an "and" world, not an "or" world. I'm not interested in litmus tests.

Will I pay a.lot of attention to O'Donnell going forward? Well, no more than I have ever paid her a lot of attention, which is between little or none.

I have to pay attention to the president, as I do every president, of course. But I don't need to pay attention to any "feuds" and personal attacks, and absolutely do not need to join any bandwagon, anywhere, at any time.; 8/19/26, 6:33 AM
rcommal said...: I hope that was "responsive to the post."; 8/19/26, 6:36 AM
rcommal said...: BTW, I don't tend to comment on people's appearance. Why? Because I have a mirror.

; ); 8/19/26, 6:40 AM
Dunham said...: She is a natural born talk show host. She had one of the most successful shows ever and I am sure the over 4 million people who used to watch her daily are excited to see her back in the chair.; 8/19/26, 6:41 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "... I don’t take kindly to people obligating me to react to something in certain way or not to react in a certain way...."

You misread me badly. I don't care which WAY you react. I just want you to react to the material in the post. Don't comment if you don't want to react to the post. Don't use the forum I have created and fostered for 2 decades to just say you're not going to look at the thing I put up or to just say something you always say, knee jerk, when you see the name Rosie O'Donnell. That is disrespectful to me. There are people who try to post here just to ruin the forum and it would already be ruined if I hadn't worked all along to manage or exclude them.

I had something new to show readers and the first 3 comments were people saying they weren't going to look or they hate Rosie for something she said years ago. I deleted those 3 comments so the thread could fit the post. You can see the instructions for posting. You comment knowing that's my standard. You can easily start your own blog if you want to be in charge of everything, but I like to think I'm giving you an opportunity here — to see new things, as I find them, and to talk about it with other people who come here because I've maintained this place as a forum to talk about new things every day.

If you don't respect that and you want to say it's "censorship" and "offensive"... well, you're just not one of the people I have in mind when I work on this thing.; 8/19/26, 6:56 AM
Quaestor said...: "Give her a chance and watch with charity..."

Sorry. Mizz O'Donnell's Civility Card account has been closed for fraud and suspicious activity.; 8/19/26, 6:58 AM
Quaestor said...: I did watch the clip, and what I saw was someone longing for a past relationship she deliberately and viciously destroyed.; 8/19/26, 7:00 AM
rehajm said...: …how do you know the early commenters didn’t view the post or had seen the content somewhere else? I suspect you don’t know….; 8/19/26, 7:13 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "This is all performative."

The left is run by a parade of actresses. Some of their actresses even have penises.; 8/19/26, 7:15 AM
Tina Trent said...: Why? She called us Nazis and fascists and lied about being in danger from us. Screw her. She needs to apologize.; 8/19/26, 8:13 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: I watched about half the clip. I would say mildly amusing sometimes, but not so nice. She's got her brand. Meh.; 8/19/26, 8:18 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: My thoughts; face looks good, outfit was terrible, she seemed nervous, the pharmacist bit went on way too long, Trump hate was more standard issue than deranged. All in all, I didn’t laugh once. She seems like someone looking desperately for a career reset.; 8/19/26, 8:19 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Compare to Johnnie Carson's monologues. Carson was much better.; 8/19/26, 8:20 AM
Rob said...: I thought she left because the Uniparty lost to Trump?; 8/19/26, 8:48 AM
Peachy+2 said...: she is as funny as bloody severed Trump head kathy griffith(D). - not funny at all.; 8/19/26, 9:55 AM
Donatello Nobody said...: Cute story about the pharmacist. Does she have any idea how completely delusional she is about Donald Trump?; 8/19/26, 11:13 AM
Donatello Nobody said...: I would add that at no point did she ever say anything actually funny, as in laugh-provoking. So a pretty good substitute host for Jimmy Kimmel.; 8/19/26, 11:16 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: 2:30 into that I quit. First, she didn't put the slightest effort into making it seem like she wasn't just reading off a prompter. Unprofessional. She starts with the Trump dance move and launches right into jibes at him. Then the cliche laundry list. Who writes this stuff?
I was instantly bored.; 8/19/26, 11:31 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: So how did it go the next night? Not so well. Ed Driscoll on Instapundit: "Rosie O’Donnell Claims Trump Brought Back Fascism."; 8/19/26, 11:44 AM
SoLastMillennium said...: First observation is; She still has TDS* only it is down to a mild background fever. It still could flair up and burn out of control again.
Past that, it was a very funny and clever bit in the best Rosie form which is very good and her getting away from that was a sadness. I still agree with the observation that she is very unhappy about something in her life and feel she is worth a prayer.

*A clear sign of TDS is the belief that if you're not attacking Trump then you're defending him.; 8/19/26, 11:52 AM
TosaGuy said...: Sorry, not going to watch it.

O’Donnell has the standard leftist narcissistic tic of elevating in their own mind that they are Trump’s main target of everything their fevered mind thinks he does.

It’s boring and irrelevant and I won’t spend my time watching it.

He; 8/19/26, 12:31 PM
Breezy said...: I watched about 5 minutes. She seemed chipper and happy to be on stage again. However, because she referred to the president again, I became distracted with the question, What actually started this unending feud between the two of them?

So I asked Grok:

It began in December 2006 over Trump’s handling of Miss USA Tara Conner.
Trump (then co-owner of the Miss USA pageant) held a press conference on December 19, 2006, announcing he would not strip Conner of her crown despite reports of underage drinking, drug use, and other behavior. He said he believed in second chances and required her to enter rehab.
The next day (December 20), Rosie O’Donnell—then a co-host of The View—criticized him on air during the “Hot Topics” segment. She mocked his appearance and accent, called him a “snake-oil salesman on Little House on the Prairie,” said he was “not a self-made man,” referenced his business bankruptcies (a claim Trump disputed), and highlighted what she saw as hypocrisy given his own history of divorces and affairs. Key lines included: “[He] left the first wife – had an affair. [He] had kids both times, but he’s the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend,” and “I don’t enjoy him.”

This answer surprised me…. Why would she not be for second chances? He of course started calling her names after this. 20 years of public feuding. They both should stand down. There’s no moral compass in view here.; 8/19/26, 12:48 PM
rehajm said...: 'She barely gestures at Trump'

...this is the biggest bullshit I found in this whole post- I counted five swipes at the President before I tuned out. Does anyone else consider that a 'barely gestures at' scenario?; 8/19/26, 1:47 PM