“Hi, I know you’re watching,” Rosie O’Donnell said, staring straight down the camera lens during her first night guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday.
She could only have been addressing one person.
Donald Trump is a familiar target in Kimmel’s opening monologues, and Monday night was no exception, with O’Donnell wasting no time to lay into the president, with whom she has been locked in a decades-long feud.
“They said you can’t come home again, but here I am,” she began her opening monologue Monday. “And if you thought the president hated Jimmy Kimmel Live! when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, buckle up, people. Buckle up!”
O’Donnell has been living in Ireland with her child, Clay, 13, since Trump’s second presidential inauguration in January last year — a move she also addressed during the monologue.
“You know, I’ve been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini,” she joked.
“I read that Project 2025 and said, got to get myself out of here, you know? And I decided to go to Ireland, a place where people are driven to drink regardless of who’s running their country.”
Later in the show, O’Donnell became emotional while giving a moving tribute to Hayden Panettiere, who died on Sunday at age 36. The late Heroes star appeared on The Rosie O’Donnell Show as a child actor, aged just 11.
“I’m just heartbroken over the passing of Hayden Panettiere last night. She was on my show many times as a little girl, and I got to know her as a grown woman,” said O’Donnell.
“And she was so brave talking about mental health before people were really ready to hear about it, and very sad. My love to her family and friends, and she will be missed. Godspeed, Hayden.”
Panettiere was found in cardiac arrest at a home in Greenville, South Carolina, where police said there were “no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy on Panettiere has been completed and “no signs of trauma were discovered that wouldhave contributed to the death.”
A statement added: “The cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.”
In the YouTube comments, where ABC posts Kimmel’s monologues and interviews, viewers welcomed O’Donnell back to the host’s chair with rave reviews.
“Thank you Jimmy for inviting Rosie,” read one popular comment.
“Rosie, you are spectacular!! Ireland suits you well! I’m so glad to see you,” wrote another.
“Kimmel is genius for getting Rosie,” added a third.
“Rosie is back, we need her now more than ever,” shared a fourth.
O’Donnell’s appearance comes amid Trump’s repeated calls for networks to take action against late night hosts who criticize him.
Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show was canceled by CBS last year just days after its host criticized a settlement between Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, and Trump, though the network cited financial reasons.
Kimmel, meanwhile, was briefly suspended by ABC after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action over his comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk, before returning to air days later.