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Rosie O’Donnell closed out her incredible four night run tonight guest hosting for Jimmy Kimmel.
The big finale was a killer version of “Oh Danny Boy” changing the name to “Donny.” Trump finally got a hilarious kick in the pants from Rosie, but done with elegance and wit — two things he lacks! See video below.
She also called Trump “the orange Voldemort.”
Rosie began the monologue by joking that Trump, who is obsessed with her, spent more time with her this week than Melania! She also attacked RFK Jr brilliantly:
She said: “According to new reports cases of COVID are surging in almost every state right now but don’t worry people because our fate is in the hands of the secretary of health and human sacrifice.”
She called RFK Jr “SpongeBob Smallpox” and asked “if you can trust the medical advice of a guy who pulled over during a road trip to cut the penis off a dead raccoon? Strange man, strange and I don’t like any of his thoughts on autism.”
Neil Young — we know he’s a genius. He also has a voluminous catalog, akin to Bob Dylan — that you can study on his brilliantly curated website.
Most people think of “Heart of Gold” or “After the Gold Rush,” or Crosby Stills & Nash, but Neil Young encompasses a huge amount of space in the rock canon.
Now he’s dropped a stunningly beautiful 11 minute song. Eleven minutes seemed daunting but once I heard it, I was hooked. It’s like a folk incantation, and a dreamy waltz. What’s even more exciting — “Second Song” is produced with another legend, Lou Adler, who’s 93. Adler is responsible for a huge chuck of rock history, from “Monterey Pop” to Carole King’s “Tapestry” to being there when Sam Cooke recorded “A Change is Gonna Come.”
“Second Song” is also the title of a new album coming out on September 18th. But listen to this now, just take the time with it. We’re so lucky to get something of this magnitude these days.
Two of the verses: “I dream a way of living A way of sharing what we find A way of walking slowly Through the smokey leaves of time”
“The world needs all her song birds She needs her music in the sky Guiding souls both in and out Showing weakness how to fly”
Melania Trump resurfaced today at the White House.
The main focus was that she joked about being back after presumed missing for weeks. Or that the Trumps had little contact because of his latest personal issues.
What everyone missed was the inappropriate was the presentation of a $2 million check from Fox Corporation, aka Fox News, aka Rupert Murdoch, for Melania’s bogus Be Best Campaign and Fostering the Future network.
On August 22nd and 23rd, IndyCar will race cars around the White House on Fox TV and Fox One Sports for its Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
Be Best, aka Melania, says that it’s given millions to foster care for children. But there is no public accounting for any money that’s gone in or out of the fund. Nothing. It’s just a big money swamp with no information. They claim that Twenty-six colleges and universities across the nation have established Fostering the Future programs.
There is no actual evidence of foster children benefiting from Be Best, but Trump has broken up thousands of families via mass deportation. In a sense, he’s created a foster child emergency.
The Trumps have already used the White House as a stage for World Wrestling, so race cars seem like an obvious choice in the destruction of the property while they add their $400 million bunker. Monster Trucks should probably come next.
But wait — $2 million from Fox Corporation? For a show already being broadcast on the Fox network?
This sort of thing used to be inappropriate, and a conflict of interest for any news organization. But Fox News is Trump’s state media no matter how much he complains about them. Murdoch pandering to the latest Trump grift is no surprise. The surprise is that no one complains about it. This kind of corruption has become accepted during the Trump administration.
iT’S OFFICIAL: IndyCar and Fox Sports have just written a check for TWO MILLION DOLLARS towards scholarships to Indiana colleges for foster kids
President Trump was in attendance, but simply sat in the audience to support Melania, rather than stealing the show pic.twitter.com/NyBhqsMOAh
The Criterion Channel — which movie fans hold in high regard — has made an excruciatingly strange choice for a celebration next month.
The esteemed group is going to highlight Madonna’s truly terrible acting in movies.
They’re showing three movies featuring the famous pop star including “Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Body of Evidence,” and “Dangerous Game.”
The first one, directed by Susan Seidelman, is the outlier and easily the best of the trio. But it’s really more about Seidelman and Rosanna Arquette than Madonna.
The other two are historically and hysterically unwatchable.
“Body of Evidence,” from 1992, has an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. I was there when it premiered, and we howled at this bizarre movie that otherwise had a stellar cast including Willem Dafoe and Julianne Moore.
“Dangerous Game” was also called “Snake Eyes” back in 1993. Abel Ferrara, who is is an acquired taste to begin with, directed Madonna and Harvey Keitel to a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. I believe this one, or “Body of Evidence,” that features wax dripping during a sex scene.
There were so many better choices like “Swept Away,” “W.E.,” and so on for bad Madonna movies. For better ones, there’s always “Dick Tracy,” and “A League of Their Own.” But Criterion could have gone for “Shanghai Surprise” or “Bloodhounds of Broadway.”
Madonna is a great entertainer and personality. She’s an okay singer. She’s a terrible actress. Maybe Criterion will feature her in the Criterion Closet, picking out her favorite movies. That would be worth watching!
Rosie O’Donnell has a very rosy ratings picture so far.
Her opening night guest hosting for Jimmy Kimmel was a smash hit.
Plus, she got a most ecstatic email from the one and only Barbra Streisand. (See below.)
According to Late Nighter, Rosie’s first show brought in 1.87 million viewers, beating Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
Views of her monologue on YouTube were huge, too, with 2.5 million people taking a look at her hilarious opening night. Her second night monologue is up to 1.2 million views.
Rosie’s getting raves on social media, too. Viewers are loving the Rosie Renaissance, and admiring her deft way of handling Donald Trump. She just drops a zinger at the start, and then moves on. The rest of the show is just fun stuff, lots of showbiz gossip with each guest. It’s kind of a relief.
Rosie’s numbers aren’t topping Kimmel’s during the regular season, but they’re a sign that she’s still got ‘it’ and could easily make a roaring comeback in 2029 if that’s what she chooses.
One more night, tonight — and we’ll be glued to our screens!
Rosie O’Donnell keeps playing it just right as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Rosie knows everyone expects her to make jokes about Donald Trump. But she’s too smart for that. She doesn’t say his name at all. Tonight, she opened her monologue with this:
“A special hello to those of you watching from home and from the White House but I do have some bad news for President Petty Roosevelt. That’s all I’m going to say about you. You got to realize it’s time to hang up your wig and let Natalie tuck you in.” She waved at the camera, indicating Trump at home. “It’s time to go!”
And that’s it.
Otherwise, you feel like Rosie is an old school professional at running a talk show. She’s so confident and heart warming. Her bit tonight with Kimmel sidekick Guillermo was just charming, and Guillermo reciprocate with a funny report about his time on “Dancing with the Stars.”
She’s Really Rosie, and we’ve been the beneficiaries of her talents.
Trump must be seething that Rosie isn’t giving him anything to chew on.
It could be all in the family at “Saturday Night Live” this fall.
Comedian April Rock is being considered as new member of the cast. Reportedly, “SNL” is looking for a Black female cast member since the great Ego Nwodim left in 2025.
The family part: April is a cousin of former “SNL” cast member Chris Rock, who has since become a huge star. (He’s directed a new movie coming soon, FYI). April was born in tony Woodbridge, Connecticut. Her father is a doctor and professor at Yale.
April Rock is no nepo baby. She has the goods, and if she’s chosen it will be on her own merits. You can click on some of her work below. She’s a multi-talented comic-actor-singer-writer-director.
Family members have always been part of “SNL.” Bill Murray’s brother Brian Doyle Murray was part of the show years ago. Jim Belushi joined the show after his brother, John, died. They worked out just fine, so I’m rooting for April to land a spot on “SNL” this season.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whose education was a reality show called “The Real World,” is a dim bulb.
In his new reality show, called “The Great American Road Trip,” Duffy says he doesn’t want his second daughter, Paloma, to go to Harvard. Why? Conservative children from conservative homes, he tells Paloma, “become perverted and contorted.
Clip:
View on Threads
The family — nine children, plus wife Rachel Campos Duffy, who he met on “The Real World” — travel to Boston and Cambridge to visit schools Paloma wants to attend. Paloma seems very clear headed and determined not to follow her parents’ narrow minded path.
Before the trip, Campos-Duffy, who works for Fox News, says that Harvard — one of the finest academic institutions in the world — “hates us.” She really believes it.
The mother incredibly says: “Why are we giving our money to people who hate us, hate our values?”
Duffy tells his daughter, “I think what happens is they have professionalized figuring out how they can take good young girls like you and I think corrupt their minds.
But when they get to Harvard, Duffy and Campos are only interested in visiting the Catholic church on campus. The resident clergy, Father Nathaniel Saunders, patiently explains to them that Harvard won’t destroy their daughter, and that the campus Catholic population is thriving. The expression of controlled horror on his face is hilarious.
Nevertheless, the Duffy come across as closed minded and uninterested in Harvard’s educational opportunities. It’s an eye opener because the Duffys represent a segment of the American population unimaginable to a lot of people. But they exist, sadly. Paloma seems like she knows exactly what’s going on. So does her older sister, already a college graduate. I feel sorry for these 9 children.
There are more episodes of “The Great American Road Trip,” but I don’t think I can take much more. (I will watch them, however.)
Pray for Paloma Duffy.
Full episode below. The Harvard discussion starts around 5 minutes.
Gwyneth Paltrow is having an off the record dinner for Open AI/Chat GPT chief Sam Altman.
You are not invited.
Why would an Oscar winning actress and purveyor of vaginal eggs be doing this?
Paltrow was an early investor in Open AI. Also, the founder of “Goop” loves powerful people. Altman is the guy of the moment, even if people hate him and revile AI. Paltrow wants to be in on the action.
Who’s on the menu? All the Hamptons regulars, I’m sure. The Seinfelds, the Fallons, whoever’s around. Would Paul McCartney go if he’s in town? Why not? Julianne Moore? The Spielbergs? It’s possible GP will use an Open AI algorithm to determine the guest list.
(Gone are the days in the Hamptons of Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, and James Jones. The ship has sailed on the literati as tastemakers.)
The curiosity about Altman should be intense as AI takes over our lives. Paltrow doesn’t need to throw a dinner if she wants to go into business with him. But this puts the spotlight on her as the hostess of the Hamptons’ most exclusive event of the season.
The dinner is set for August 29th, and it’s al fresco — meaning it’s outside, you’re not coming into Gwyneth’s house. (Everyone’s joking that it’s “AI fresco.”) It should be the usual tent and high end porta potties. Maybe everyone will get a candle that smells like fear.
Rosie O’Donnell’s second night guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel was a winner again.
Of course, she got a few zings at Donald Trump out of the way at the start of her monologue.
She said, “All of a sudden I’m re-famous, back in the spotlight all thanks to President Oompa J Loompa, who is watching us this evening from inside a catering cart. I couldn’t have done it without you, sweetie, it brought me back just like you did with fascism and then the measles.”
That bit got huge laughs from the rap studio audience.
Rosie’s main guest was Jean Smart, on her Emmy tour for “Hacks.” Smart, who’s been out campaigning day and night during this Emmy voting week, seemed a little tired but was endearing as ever. They discussed Smart’s five years playing fictional comic Deborah Vance. Smart said she’d been a big fan of Joan Rivers, but really loved Phyllis Diller.
A part of their multi-segment conversation was surprising, however. O’Donnell and Smart really put down the Met Gala, ensuring that both of them will be on Anna Wintour’s blacklist forever. Rosie said, during a discussion of dressing up for events, “I think what they should do for prisoners is send them to the Met Ball.” Smart concurred that she’d heard it was “torture.” It was very funny for the audience but it won’t be for Wintour if someone tells her about it.
O’Donnell, in her monologue, used some more of the material from her winning off Broadway show, “Common Knowledge,” talking about her 13 year old autistic child, Clay. And Rosie also featured a three year old girl named Leona she found on YouTube, who was shockingly beguiling singing “Let it Go” from “Frozen,” and showing off what may be perfect pitch.
What came across for the second night was that O’Donnell is a total star and professional. Even if she’s returning to Ireland for now, it’s pretty clear that Rosie could start a daytime talk show if she wants one once Trump is safely out of office. This Kimmel run is the best audition idea I’ve ever seen.
