Fightin' Words!

By Ted Casablanca Jan 11, 2007 1:35 PMTags
The fracas between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump has been whipped into a frenzy, natch, with Barbara Walters reportedly on the receiving end of her wrath. But is Rosie really playin' fair, considering her closeted past? And what celebs will and won't weigh in on this way-outta-control war of tongues 'n' mucho tired hairdos?
FX/Prashant Gupta
Oy, have I gotten enormous flak for defending Rosie O'Donnell in the past? Yep. Mostly on Fox News shows, I might add (those Republican blowhards are just as anti-Democrat/lesbian/corpulence as they are big-haired, I declare), but not always. Sometimes it's you readers who hate the broad, whom I just happen to live for—dubious coiffures notwithstanding.

The point is, Rosie O.'s been shooting her mouth off for some time now, and I still applaud her. But it's getting difficult. Par-tick for some of her friends, too.

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMApress.com

This latest R.O. run-in, this time with Barbara Walters, is certainly pushing it (even though the two hosts appear to have puckered up and made up). And no, I don't say this just because I've been a guest on The View several times and would love to go back (if for no other reason than to ask my old E! cohort, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, what kind of Republican concoctions she's drinkin' these days). But really.

Babs gave Rosie a plum position. Bring down the housewives' house, blow out that mildewing hot air Star left hanging around the set and have some friggin' fun! Which she did. 'Course, Rosie never lets my pal Joy Behar get two words in edgewise, but Joy can hold her own—I ain't too worried fer her.

NBC/Chris Haston

The problem is, not only is Rosie biting the hand that hired her (Walters), Rosie's forgetting where she came from, what with all this damn Donald Trump-to-hell biz.

That place being the very secretiveness that seems to be so enraging Ms. O. See, R. claims Barbara isn't being totally upfront these days. Uh, but wasn't that just how Rosie herself used to be?

"There was a time," veddy close buds to Ms. R. tell moi, that Rosie wasn't half as forthcoming in her life as Trump is about his today. "Like when she was in the closet."

Well, I don't know how in the closet a rather large, über-butch, manless, Tom Cruise–craving, virtually makeup-free, couture-bashing gal can be, but America's like my friggin' mother, believes what it wants to, discards the rest. Right?

Oui.

"But Rosie really needs to remember the times when she wasn't out," insists another (and much famous) bud to R.O. "When she kept saying, over and over, 'I'll come out, just as soon as I adopt this next kid.' Now that she's completely out, she has this rather unreasonable expectation that everybody else live on her equally open terms—not cool."

Specifically, Rosie, as I'm sure you've heard, is slapping Babs' hands, feet, brow—wherever she can find—because she doesn't feel Walters defended her staunchly enough against Trump's hideous Larry King insults against her. Well, isn't that up to Walters?

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMApress.com

Just my opinion. And yes, I still stand by my Rosie. Remember, she's the good gay soldier who calls it like it is against "Christian" factions who spew hatred outta every orifice they have, not to mention Kelly Ripa's insulting remarks against Clay Aiken. O'Donnell's got a good heart.

Just a short memory. Say her pals. And me.

Ready for even more O'Donnell brouhaha? Read on:

Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
Meanwhile, the bad blood between Rosie and Donald is being yakked about everywhere, including backstage at the People's Choice Awards Tuesday night at the Shrine. In case you're wondering, Robin Williams, winner of the Favorite Funny Male Star, declared he was on Team Rosie to us press peeps. Why, you wonder?

"She's a comic, and she's tough," he told us. "I don't think [Trump] knows what he's got coming."

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

Ellen DeGeneres, winner of Favorite Funny Female Star and Favorite Talk-Show Host, opted to keep mum on the war of words when asked. "I'm not divin' into that pool!" she said.

The funnygal, who's set to emcee the Oscars herself, was willing to weigh in on how Queen Latifah did as a host, though.

"Queen's doing a great job," Ellen enthused. "She's so natural at everything she does. She's so relaxed, and I love that...I think that's the most important thing."

Not nearly as vital as E.D.'s nooky files, I say. Things seem to be going swimmingly in Ellen's professional life as well as her personal one, since she's still goin' strong with g-f Portia de Rossi. The secret to their romance?

"Finding the right person...someone who clicks," she mused, while Portia gazed on from the wings. "Sometimes when you're doing a jigsaw puzzle and the piece looks like it should fit exactly, but it doesn't. And you try to squeeze it in to somehow work, but you know it's not the right piece. You just gotta find that right piece, and she's the right piece."

Enough already, Ellen—you're gonna make me break out my hardly ever used hanky! Got oodles more scoop and stories from People's Choice for you tomorrow, so y'all come back now, you hear?