Rosie O'Donnell Did Not Become an Artist to be Liked

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: "Rosie O'Donnell Did Not Become an Artist to Be Liked"

Podcast: The Best People with Nicolle Wallace
Host: Nicolle Wallace (MSNBC)
Guest: Rosie O'Donnell
Date: September 29, 2025

---

Overview

In this candid, heartfelt episode, Nicolle Wallace welcomes comedian, actress, and activist Rosie O'Donnell. They explore themes of motherhood, self-preservation, fame, activism, and the personal impact of contemporary American politics. Rosie opens up about her decision to move to Ireland amidst concerns about the U.S.'s political trajectory, the deep emotional connection she shares with her audience, and her ongoing artistic evolution. The episode radiates honesty, vulnerability, and a sense of urgency, encouraging listeners to find truth and connection in these turbulent times.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rosie’s Move to Ireland: Self-Preservation and Motherhood

• Self-Preservation Over Politics (02:39)

  • Rosie describes her move to Ireland as driven by self-preservation, not a political statement.
  • After reading Project 2025 and worrying about the U.S. election, she consulted her therapist:

    “I called my therapist and said, I need to go to Ireland... So I went to my people, and it was totally because I knew how badly I did during his first term.” (02:39, Rosie O'Donnell)

  • She wanted to be fully present for her youngest daughter’s transition into teenage years.

• Motherhood at 50+ (04:12)

  • Both Rosie and Nicolle reflect on becoming mothers later in life and the patience and awe that come with it.

• Adoption Story (04:12-06:42)

  • Rosie recounts the emotional adoption of her youngest daughter and the profound moment with the birth mother:

    “I've never witnessed God's grace so profoundly as I did in that moment when this woman who loved her baby... graciously handed her to someone who felt that they could.” (05:00, Rosie O'Donnell)

2. Personal Sacrifices for Well-Being

• Rosie admits leaving the U.S. meant leaving her adult children behind, which is a daily pain but was necessary for her mental health (06:57).

• On being a ‘homebody’ and uprooting her nest (08:01)

  • Rosie details her apprehension about moving:

    “I like to be in a country where I could speak the language... What if I'm in France and there's an emergency?” (08:01, Rosie O'Donnell)

3. Public Voice, Artistic Purpose, and Criticism

• Rosie never sought universal approval as a performer:

  • “I never became an artist to have everyone like me... I care about people. I really do. I care about everybody's feelings... But if you can't see that there's a madman in the House, you're never gonna protect the kids.” (09:27, Rosie O'Donnell)

• Rosie’s Relationship with the Audience and Fame (23:01-23:55, 29:04-30:08)

  • Deeply values the bond with her viewers, striving for authenticity and connection:

    “I always feel more akin to an audience member than to the celebrity on the stage.” (23:55, Rosie O'Donnell)

  • Fame in America versus Ireland:

    “This is not a celebrity influenced culture... If people recognize you, they ignore it... They don't value celebrities more than they value normal people. And I think that's a beautiful quality for a country.” (29:04, Rosie O'Donnell)

  • Ireland reminds Rosie of her childhood, providing comfort and anonymity (30:08).

4. Reflections on Trump and U.S. Politics

• Rosie’s long-standing, public opposition to Trump is discussed:

  • She clarifies that her criticism is based on his actions and danger to the country—not personal animus (09:27, 11:09).
  • On Trump's “theatrics” and obsessive attacks:

    “I only spoke to him one time for four minutes... I think he is very upset that I, a girl who reminds me of all the tough girls in his neighborhood who never fell for his shit or listened to him...” (13:27, 14:02, Rosie O'Donnell)

  • Trump as a “wounded person” lacking compassion (14:02).

• Her Frustration with the Media and Political Apathy (15:25, 20:10)

  • She calls out the media for not holding Trump accountable:

    “They don't come back and say, that was insane. Did you hear what the President did? That's what we need from the newscasters.” (15:25, Rosie O'Donnell)

  • Critiques mainstream journalism for placating Trump's narrative and neglecting the watchdog role:

    “The fourth estate mainstream media has let down the democracy... The fact that he's controlling the media and thinks he can, the fact that no one is standing up to the idiocy...” (20:10, Rosie O'Donnell)

5. Vulnerability, Loss, and Empathy

• Rosie shares profound personal loss (mother’s death) and how it shaped her acute sensitivity:

  • “My shrink has said more than once, most people have a window with a window pane and a screen and shutters and curtains. And your window is open. You have no way to filter out the painful stuff.” (36:56, Rosie O'Donnell)

• She discusses the challenge of “absorbing it all”—how traumatic events and news hit her deeply and lead to her prioritizing mental health.

• On connecting with others in times of crisis:

  • “Find your community of like minded people. Stick together, take care of each other, hide each other if you need to... Be a human being and stand next to them and hold their hand through it and suffer what they suffer. And that's empathy.” (48:10, Rosie O'Donnell)

6. Activism, Hope, and Advice for Listeners

• Encourages forming real-world, local communities for emotional and civic support (45:42, 48:10).

• On the power of collective action:

  • “Bravo, America. And this is how much power we have. And don't let them tell you we don't.” (42:32, Rosie O'Donnell)

• Believes women, particularly women of color like Jasmine Crockett & AOC, are the hope of the Democratic Party (45:06).

• Stresses the importance of empathy, truth-telling, and activism—big or small.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Artistic Motivation:

  “I never became an artist to have everyone like me.” (09:27)

• On America’s Challenges:

  “And if you don't stand up now, we're gonna be like Nazi Germany.” (15:25)

• On Personal Sensitivity to World Events:

  “World tragedies slay me, and I need to protect myself from them.” (39:17)

• On Empathy:

  “Be a human being and stand next to them and hold their hand through it and suffer what they suffer. And that's empathy.” (48:10)

• On Community and Action:

  “Find your community of like minded people. Stick together, take care of each other, hide each other if you need to.” (48:10)

• On Fame and Connection:

  “I always feel more akin to an audience member than to the celebrity on the stage.” (23:55)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Rosie explains her move to Ireland (02:39)
• Emotional adoption story (04:12 - 06:42)
• Rosie on being a homebody and the risk of uprooting her life (08:01)
• Artistic motivation—‘not to be liked’ (09:27)
• Reflections on Trump and the cost of criticism (11:09, 13:27, 14:02)
• Media’s failure and the importance of holding truth (20:10, 42:32)
• Rosie’s relationship with fame and audience (23:01, 23:55, 29:04)
• Mother’s death, loss, and the importance of music (32:07)
• Rosie’s emotional filter, trauma, and mental health (36:56)
• Advice for activism and community-building (45:42, 48:10)

---

Final Thoughts

The episode is a testament to vulnerability, the complicated realities of activism, and the power of personal truth. Rosie O'Donnell’s honesty about her own limitations, her activism, and her artistry remind listeners that being “the best people” is about courage, kindness, and connection—especially in difficult times.

---

Transcript

[Commercial Narrator]

Surprise beach day. No excuses. I'm in. Gimme five. With Bix Soleil Glide Razor, you'll have hydrated smooth skin that's ready to go on the fly. No shave cream needed. You can prep, shave and hydrate all in one step thanks to moisture bars that hydrate your skin during and after shaving. 5 flexible blades hug your skin for a close shave. Glide into smooth. It's your time to shine with bixsolil. Buy now at Amazon and Walmart. Ready? Your skin looks amazing. So smooth and beach ready.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Let's go. Hormone Harmony is a game changer for women who feel off physically and mentally. Created by an award winning German nutrition scientist, it blends 12 evidence based adaptogens into one capsule. No fillers, no junk, just science backed support for clarity, comfort, energy and confidence. With 50,000 plus glowing reviews, it's helped millions feel like themselves again. Try it now with 15% off your first order using code [e-mail] people saying, I'm canceling my trip to Disney. I'm canceling my hulu, my Disney. $4 billion in four days. Bravo America. And this is how much power we have. And don't let them tell you we don't.

[Nicole Wallace]

Hi everyone and welcome to the Best People podcast. This week's guest is known the world over. She's an icon known for making people laugh and these days making a lot of us think really hard and really deeply about the things happening around us to other humans. She and I were cast originally as political adversaries. Luckily for me, we have since become friends and allies. My deepest, deepest thanks to you, Rosie o', Donnell, for appearing on the Best People podcast. Thank you so much.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I'll do whatever you need, Nicole. We had our magical flight where we sat together to Miami and everything shifted and it was a beautiful thing.

[Nicole Wallace]

I mean, I think that's a great place to start because I think that maybe the whole country is locked in these castings as enemies and you never saw people that way. And I understand now that your pain wasn't about politics. It was about things that people were doing to humans. And I wonder, as someone who I know feels everything, how you're doing.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

You know, I will say that I came here out of self preservation. You know, some people said, oh, you're making a political statement. I didn't tell anyone I was moving. I read Project 2025 and I saw that he won. And I called my therapist and said, I need to go to Ireland. This was the only place I'm 100% Irish. I was here as a little kid after my mother died, and, you know, this is where my people are. So I went to my people, and it was totally because I knew how badly I did during his first term. And I knew now that I had a daughter about to be 12, that I needed to be present, awake and aware for the teenage years. They're not easy, and they're not easy when you're 63. So I adopted this baby at 50, and I owe her the best part of me. And I couldn't afford the risk of being completely debilitated by what was about to happen. And everything I feared and everything I read in that book has come true.

[Nicole Wallace]

I think there's so much there we could spend the hour talking about that I had my daughter when I was 51. And I wonder. There's something pretty glorious about motherhood at 50. There's just an infinite amount of patience. There's an infinite amount of awe at them. What has it been like?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

It's the best decision I ever made. You know, I got a call from my lawyer who had helped me with Parker's adoption, who said they had a birth mother that wanted to make sure there wouldn't be a dad in the family. They had some horrific experiences, and they wanted to know if they could place the baby with just a single mother or two moms. And so the lawyer called me to say, do you know any lesbians with a home study? And I keep my home study updated just in case I get a random call. And I did. And I said, can you tell her it's me? Can you tell her that we'd have to have her sign a non disclosure because I don't want her privacy, and she doesn't know what it could be like. And I don't want the baby's privacy or my privacy or the birth. You know, everybody's invaded. So she said, yes. And I met her. And it was the first time I was at the birth of one of my children besides Vivi. And so I got to be there with the birth mother, who, after all that work, the nurse wrapped that baby up and went over to hand her to the birth mother who had just labored to get this baby out. And the birth mother said, no, no, that's not my baby. That's hers. She's the mother. Give that baby to her. And I start to cry. You know, I thought, I've never witnessed God's grace so profoundly as I did in that moment when this woman who loved her baby and knew she couldn't give that baby what the baby deserved. Graciously handed her to someone who felt that they could, you know, and it profoundly moved me and changed me. And, you know, then she got diagnosed a little after one, almost two, because she was speaking in full sentences, you know, she was watching Frozen and she tapped me on the shoulder and said, I've been impaled. And I was like. And then Olaf said, I've been impaled, in the same tone. And I knew from having five kids and two foster kids that we were in for some journey with this one, you know, and so it's been a miraculous ride. And I'm grateful every day for her and for her birth mother and for the gift that she is in my life.

[Nicole Wallace]

And I think people know you around your decades long feud with Donald Trump, but the decision to leave is centered around being a mother to this child, right?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Yes, 100%. My other children weren't interested in coming. And, you know, they have their own lives. I respect that for them. But I miss them every day. I miss being part of the daily minutiae. I miss being on the same time zone. You know, I miss so much of their life that, you know, it's been a sacrifice for me. But I knew in order to save myself, I had to adjust my mask first before I could save my kids, you know.

[Nicole Wallace]

And you're a homebody, right? I mean, it's surprising, but I am, yeah. When I knew you, you were a homebody. When we worked together on the View. Yes. And if we came in and told a story, all your stories centered on the home. And you had more kids living at home, but you were creating art at home. Your home was a forever home for all of your kids, regardless of their age. Age. And you were a nester. And I wonder what it's been like personally to move your nest.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

It was scary, I have to say. And I didn't even really tell friends because I'm such a homebody. I never go to Europe. I don't travel. The only places I've been is when Madonna has invited me on her birthday to go to Cuba. And I did because I knew her sister was gonna be there. And I could hang out with her sister and we would have fun and stay in the hotel. And, you know, like, I'm not a traveler. I like to be in a country where I could speak the language. And I know how to say to a doctor, I think it's my appendix, but it could be my gallbladder, because I just fear, like what if I'm in France and there's an emergency? What am I gonna do? You know? Everyone goes, your phone will translate. I'm like, not good enough. You know, I also don't like to be away from my children. So my friends would say, oh, we have a yacht in Greece for two weeks. I'm like, yeah, no. So wherever I went, it was Florida, it was Miami. It was familiar. So doing this was a tremendous jump for me. And a lot of my friends have told me since that they were very worried that it was going to go south right away.

[Nicole Wallace]

It seems, though, and I read everything. I watch everything that you post, and I read everything. It seems like your voice never wavered. And I would say it's clearer and stronger than ever.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, some of my friends said, well, you're not gonna move there and then still rile him. And I'm like, I'm not riling him. I'm telling the British are here, like Paul Revere. And I have a microphone, however small it is. Some people I know, they don't enjoy me. Some people misunderstand and. Or see me clearly and reject it. And that's okay, too, because when you're a public figure, this is the price you pay. This is what happens. And I never became an artist to have everyone like me. People did like me because I think I'm likable. I care about people. I really do. I care about everybody's feelings. I care about. Well, you're not like that with Trump. No, but if you can't see that there's a madman in the House, you're never gonna protect the kids. There's a madman in the White House, and we need to protect the kids and the women and everyone else.

[Nicole Wallace]

Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach are two people that I interviewed, and they've done some of what you're talking about. I mean, they've always used their platform for good. They've always motivated their community to give to other causes. They are now sitting in immigration court with the same mission you're talking about. They're bearing witness, if that's all that they can do. And they're trying to help kids whose families are being separated by the immigration policies. And I wonder how you explain to people in Ireland that ask you what's going on in your country. Where do you start?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I will say this. This country is very educated about politics. And I have only met two people since January who were Trump supporters. Everyone else, Nicole. When I go into a pub, they're like, hey, Rosie, this is on me. We hate him too. We think he's a horror and everyone feels that way. So there isn't the maniacal cult like fascination with him in America in there. There's not here. And that allows me to have sanity because seeing what they're projecting as half the country when it is not, I don't believe that. I believe they're a minority and they're acting like a majority because he has a cult like control, thanks to Mark Burnett's Apprentice show that lied to the American people, that sold fiction as fact and people were confused and lied to. And then they listened to Fox News and they were more lost. So when people say, I changed my mind, we have to say, welcome back to reality. Let's all be Americans together. Right? Because what's happening is not only happening to Democrats, it's happening to everyone. And when the Medicaid cuts go in, old people are going to start to die. To die. What he's done hasn't even hit us yet. And if he's not stopped now, we have lost our country. And I don't know, Nicole, how it is that some people cannot see it. My therapist said, why are you so upset? And I said to her, why are you not.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah, yeah, I have that conversation too. Because the gaslighting that I think you're alluding to, if you're a thoughtful, informed person, you do stop and say, well, maybe it is me. But the truth is he's more unpopular now than he's ever been. And at the same time, the other side of that coin seems to be he's more emboldened than ever. What do you think that's about? Having known him and having been face to face with him?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I don't know him. And I only spoke to him one time for four minutes at the Survivor reunion that I hosted. And he was at that time in talks with Mark Burnett to do a show, but it hadn't aired yet. That was the only time I ever spoke to him and it was two to four minutes of nothing. And he kissed me hello. I remember that. Cause I thought, eh, you know, I mean, I don't know the man. Yeah, this is all theatrics.

[Nicole Wallace]

So his obsession with you over the View appearance is really, as you just said, theatrics.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I think he is very upset that I, a girl who reminds me of all the tough girls in his neighborhood who never fell for his shit or listened to him, who knew he was exactly who he is and knew it as when he was a child and apparently a very loathed child that he did not have friends. And if you listen to Mary Trump and what she says about him and his family dynamic, this is a very wounded person, right? Who I don't believe. Ever learn the tenets of compassion, love, empathy, sympathy, who never read a Bible? Who lies first and always? You know, there are people who lie compulsively. He's one of them. He believes he can change the reality. And to a large extent, he has. The Mueller report did not exonerate him. The Mueller report found him culpable. But you know, Barr and he and the news never step back. Listen, you're a newscaster, but I gotta tell you, when they run the UN.

[Nicole Wallace]

Speech, you're destroying your countries. They're being destroyed. It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

See, I can tell you I'm really good at this stuff.

[Nicole Wallace]

Your countries are going to hell.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

And they don't come back and say, that was insane. Did you hear what the President did? That's what we need from the newscasters. But they kick you right out. Terry Moran, Jim Acosta. See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya. You dare stand up to the Fuhrer? You bet your ass you do. And if you don't stand up now, we're gonna be like Nazi Germany.

[Nicole Wallace]

Well, you led the charge this week over Jimmy Kimmel. You're one of the people who helped lead the charge. What were the private conversations about? People's fear in standing up for Jimmy Kimmel?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

I didn't have any because I just did what I thought was right. I'm not friends with Jimmy in that way. We've texted and he texted me thank you. And I texted him back, you know, sue them, you'll win. And you know, I don't like rally the troops to decide what to say. I follow my gut and my instinct and my research. You know, listen, I grew up in New York. If you own a restaurant in New York, there's gonna come a time when some guys in bad fitting suits like Sopranos come in and try to hit you up in the neighborhood for some money. And if you pay them, they own you. And then they start using it as a place to have dinners and not be charged and eat for free and you go bankrupt. Once Trump said to cbs, you will pay me for this. And they did. They owned CBS and they got rid of Stephen Colbert. And then he said, watch me do this at abc. And abc, which would have won that case in court, capitulates to him, that is just as bad as a mob boss coming into your little Italian family owned restaurant. That's who he is. That's how he works. That's what he does.

[Nicole Wallace]

Do you think the country understands that in a way they didn't understand it two weeks ago?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

No. No, I think, you know, ignorance is bliss, they say. And some people are unwilling to look at the truth. And in their mind, I'm a villain. And I understand that. I get it. Okay? And when you're ready to wake up, we're gonna say, welcome back. We're not gonna say, screw you. This is all your fault.

[Nicole Wallace]

Do you think that you'll come back? Like, do you think it ends? How do you think it ends?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Hopefully when he's gone and he's an elderly man and if your grandfather was that age and came to Thanksgiving, you wouldn't let him use the electric knife.

[Nicole Wallace]

Or walk your dog.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

I mean, never mind. If he said half the things that Trump is saying, you would put him in a place to help people who are in dementia. When you watch that UN speech, in the same way we knew watching Joe Biden at that debate, the man was not cognitively present in the way he used to be. The same is true for Donald Trump. And we have willful blindness in the country. We have people who are unwilling, unable to see him for who he is. And it might be too late to save the nation from him. It's hard for me to believe that this uneducated, racist buffoon is the President of the United States. And when I talked about him and his misogynistic ways with his Miss Teen Universe contestant, he was a nobody joke on a reality show. And he became the most powerful man in the world. Who would write that in a movie that was believable?

[Nicole Wallace]

I said that this week. I said, the paper shredders at Netflix are lined with scripts that are less dumb and less obvious than what's happening in this country. And you and I, I don't like to say we're cast as opposites or adversaries, but we argued policies on which there was a presumption we would always disagree. The threat is so dire that I think you, you had left the show, but I was still there when Trump essentially takes over the Republican Party. And I said, he's an embarrassment to the party I was once in. And I think that the space you're talking about for people that wake up and say, this isn't conservatism, this isn't the Republican Party, and this isn't politics. Is so important. And I wonder if that's at risk, too. If you look at how tribal, not just our politics, but our media and our information bubbles have become, well, I.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Have to say, the fourth estate mainstream media has let down the democracy. The fact that you can't get in to the press pool in the White House anymore, the fact that he's controlling the media and thinks he can, the fact that no one is standing up to the idiocy. He's allowed to sue people for telling the truth and then have the parent company in order to make more money in a merger, placate him. That's what a president of the United States is able to make billions of dollars while in office in defiance of the emoluments clause. This is the president of the United States, and we have to look back at other presidents to see how far we have fallen.

[Nicole Wallace]

Let's pause for a quick moment right here. When we're back, much more on my conversation with renowned comedian, actress, talk show host and activist Rosie o'. Donnell. Stay right.

[Commercial Narrator]

Surprise Beach Day. No excuses.

[Nicole Wallace]

I'm in.

[Commercial Narrator]

Gimme five. With Bic Soleil Glide Razor, you'll have hydrated, smooth skin that's ready to go on the fly. No shave cream needed. You can prep, shave and hydrate all in one step thanks to moisture bars that hydrate your skin during and after shaving. 5 flexible blades hug your skin for a close shave. Glide into smooth. It's your time to shine with Bixil, a buy now at Amazon and Walmart. Ready? Your skin looks amazing. So smooth and beach ready.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Let's go. This episode is supported by FX's the Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke. Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journalist, rare bookstore owner slash unofficial truth seeker who is always on the tail of his latest conspiracy. This time, his most recent expose puts him head to head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa, meaning only one thing. He must be onto something big. FX is the Lowdown. All new Tuesdays on FX stream on Hulu. Try angel stuff for your tushy. It's made by angels soft and strong. Budget friendly. The choice is simple. A roll that feels like paradise and always at a heavenly prize. Angel soft, angel soft. Soft and strong. So simple. Pick up a pack today. Angel soft, soft and strong. Simple.

[Nicole Wallace]

You know, your fame and your success is tied into what is now being imported and replicated, I believe, by podcasters, Right? Your relationship was always with your audience. And I know this from sitting next to you at the table. Your connection was always to the people sitting in front of us. And you had what I might never learn. You had a relationship with the camera because you didn't see a camera. You saw the people at home. And I've heard countless stories of men and women who, as kids, hadn't come out yet or were afraid of their parents. And you were their lifeline. And to this day, they feel bonded to you. And I wonder how that dynamic, the ability to. To hold onto each other, to hold each other through the airwaves or through whatever platforms we still control, can help us through this moment. Based on all your success at doing that.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Nothing would make me happier. But I don't profess to be anyone other than a concerned citizen who's had miraculous things happen to them in their life. Now, some horrible things, too. But that's Life, right? We're 63. We come to learn that we tried to do the best we could with our kids. I made many mistakes. I see it now at 63. I didn't maybe see at 40. And, you know, we all try to make our way in this world by being a good and honest person and by telling the truth. And that's the tenets that I live by now. I always feel more akin to an audience member than to the celebrity on the stage. So, you know, I remember when Barbra Streisand, I had already met her, and, you know, she was as dreamy as I had hoped she would be. All right. To every boy and girl watching out there, dreams do come true. Please welcome. I knew I would do this. Barbara Streisand. In many ways, to me, it feels like my mom walking through the curtain because I have to say that you were a kind of. You're gonna make me cry. I'm sorry. You know, I don't wanna do anything that would upset you anyway, but you were a constant source of light in an often dark childhood. She could have, like, ruined my life by, like, rejecting me and by her not rejecting me. I kept my boundaries. I have her number. I don't call her because I don't wanna be, you know, like, I wanna revere her. And the place that she holds in my life and my art is so huge. But one time after all that, she was speaking at the New School, I believe, and I called her assistant and said, I just want to stand in the back. I don't want to distract. I don't want to, you know. And they got me a seat behind the cameraman, and I wrote her a text and said, all is right with the world. I'M once again in the dark watching you shine because that's what it was. That's who I feel I am. You know, when I think about the people that I know. And I have this young assistant. He's Parker's age and he's Irish. And he says, like, one day he comes home and he's white. And I'm like, what is it, Frankie? He goes, you did a Christmas song with Cher. I'm like, yes, I did. Why didn't you tell me? I'm like, I didn't know what you want to know. It's 40 years of showbiz meeting everyone. I had a dream career, and I still do. I get to go and perform this one woman show. I'm going to the Sydney Opera House. For me to go to Australia, like.

[Nicole Wallace]

That'S a big trip.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

I was gonna say me going to Miami was the biggest trip before coming to Iowa. That's it. That's it. So this is a stretch. I'm telling you. I'm stretching in my old age. But if I ever could be a bomb of any type. B A L M not B O M B. Because people think I'm both, you know, incendiary and peaceful. You know, I try to show my real heart more and more as I get older.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

But, you know, I have friends who say there's not a lot of Rosie o' Donnell in Rosie o' Donnell because I'm not bombastic. I'm not argumentative. I'm not like. But somehow put in that situation, I get indignant and outraged and I can't believe. Like, I remember once Whoopi said to me, america was not a racist country.

[Nicole Wallace]

I remember that I was sitting between the two of you and I thought.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

My head was gonna explode on national tv. I thought, how is it possible that this successful African American woman, one of a dearth of black celebrities that we have in the country could possibly think that, you know? And so then my heart starts going. And that's why my cardiologist said you had on a shirt that showed your heartbeat. And I am afraid for what happens to you after you had that heart attack. And it does, Nicole. My heart goes. And so I do meditation and I go to Pilates and I try to get my, you know, calm my soul. And being here has helped, I have to say.

[Nicole Wallace]

We do all the things I heard. You go through the list. That's my list too. Right. We get up, we brush our teeth, we make the bed. We get sunlight on our. I don't know. It's supposed to hit our eyeballs. And then we move.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Then we move all the things. Exactly.

[Nicole Wallace]

I want to ask you about the one woman show. And if this was. Is your inspiration from the move or I mean, is creating art different because you took some agency? And is there something all of us can glean from that? That in our agency, in whatever power we have to self preserve, I guess our mental health, we will find power and that becomes contagious?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I think that's true. I didn't have thought of it till you said it, but I was trying to write a one woman show based on my mother and mothering. And I tried for a long time, but I could never get it to go. I could never get it to feel right. I could never get to be that vulnerable on a stage as to talk about the feelings of the day she died. And then I came here and something exploded inside of me, like I had to like, step out of my box, you know? And this is not a celebrity influenced culture. If people recognize you, they ignore it. And then maybe when you're leaving the restaurant, they'll say, welcome to Ireland, Rosie. That's what you'll hear. You won't hear, can I have a picture or can I have an autograph? It's a very respected culture where they don't value celebrities more than they value normal people. And I think that's a beautiful quality for a country, right? Especially in celebrity obsessed, commercialized corporate America.

[Nicole Wallace]

Is that the first time you've ever lived like that, where people didn't feel.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

First time in 40 years. The first time in 40 years. It made me feel like I was in the 70s again. When I brought my child to the school and they all had on different color, solid T shirts, not a uniform. They just didn't have brands all over their clothes. And they reminded me of my childhood, you know, and one girl said to Clay, I love your fit. And Clay was like, thank you. I wasn't even trying, you know, and her best friend was born. But there's something about this culture and that slowing down of your life that allows you space to feel other things. And when I was in Los Angeles, before I left, I was working on a new show for hbo and I didn't feel when I got here that that show was now appropriate. You know, it was really about just raising an autistic kid. And then I got here and I realized, wow, this is so much fuller. I was seeing people who reminded me of me when I was 30, who looked like I looked when I was 10. Who are 80 years old, like my mother would have been, you know, And I see them at the Tesco, and they look like my. We're 100% Irish. We did 23andMe. It said 100% Irish. You know, that's crazy. And everyone looks familiar, and it's very interesting to live in a culture like that for the first time ever.

[Nicole Wallace]

Do you think that telling this story and I wonder if you're comfortable telling. I mean, Barbra Streisand wasn't just an icon you revered. I mean, that's tied to what you're talking about with your mother. We about talked talk about what she means to you, you know?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

After my mother died, my father didn't know what to do. So he took us that summer. She died in March. And that summer, we went to Ireland, and we went to the north of Ireland, Tyrone, not in Belfast, but very close to the border where there were guards and woods. And we were there for the summer, and then we went home. And everything of my mother's had been taken out of the house by neighbors and aunts. So there was one photo of her on the top of the Sears portrait studio wall where we put the photos, at the very top was a wedding picture of my mother and father. They left that. And they left all her Streisand records because they didn't know that when we came home from school, almost every day, one of them would be playing. And if it wasn't Barbra Streisand, if it was someone like Simon and Garfunkel, we knew she was in a depression. But when Barbara was on, she was so happy. So when I got home, I coveted those records, and I used to listen to them every day, lying on the shag rug with big speakers by each ear and trying to wish my mother back to life. So when she came through the curtain on my show, it was as if it was my mother walking through there to me. And I looked in the front row of my four siblings, and they were all crying. And then I'm like, I'm not gonna be able to get through this, you know? But I will say, Nicole, that kind of adoration, human to human, is hard to take. You know, if somebody meets you and can't stop crying and, like, what you mean to them is dysregulating them. It's an overwhelming feeling to be the person in that position. And, you know, I've been it. Not in the same capacity of somebody I loved for 40 years, you know, but these kids who come over to me and Say, you know, you don't know. You're my Barbra Streisand. And it breaks my heart. And I also am so moved by it. And I see their distress and I, like, try to assuage it, you know, I try to be like, come on, it's just me, you know, don't it's just me, you know? But you have an effect on people when you do movies and you're on tv. And I know that because they all had an effect on me.

[Nicole Wallace]

My conversation with Rosie o' Donnell continues on the other side of a quick break. We'll be right back.

[Commercial Narrator]

Surprise beach day. No excuses. I'm in. Gimme five. With Bic Soleil Glide Razor, you'll have hydrated, smooth skin that's ready to go on the fly. No shave cream needed. You can prep, shave and hydrate all in one step thanks to moisture bars that hydrate your skin during and after shaving. 5 flexible blades hug your skin for a close shave. Glide into smooth. It's your time to shine with Bixsol A buy now at Amazon and Walmart. Ready? Your skin looks amazing. So smooth and beach ready.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Let's go. Hey, everybody.

[Nicole Wallace]

Ted Danson here to tell you about my podcast with my longtime friend and sometimes co host Woody Harrelson. It's called where everybody knows your name and we're back for another season. I'm so excited to be joined this season by friends like John Mulaney, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, Ed Helms, and many more.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

You don't want to miss it. Listen to where everybody knows your name.

[Nicole Wallace]

With me, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With greenlight, you can set up chores automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for Greenlight [e-mail] podcast.

[Nicole Wallace]

Do you think that that pain is part of what makes what's happening in the country a bigger trauma that you've spent your life connecting, trying to connect, making people laugh. The radius of joy that you spent your life doing after such a profound early loss. Where do you put the pain because so many people are numb to it. So many people. I mean, Gavin Newsom was talking about this bas basically telling everyone to wake the fuck up. Is your inability to just numb out part of the pain that you knew so young?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Yeah, it's my inability. And, you know, my shrink has said more than once, most people have a window with a window pane and a screen and shutters and curtains. And your window is open. You have no way to filter out the painful stuff. Most people have all those protections, so they don't get to absorb it all. But it hits me like a bullet. And my mother was dying. That was a world tragedy for me. And at the same time, Saigon was falling, and my neighbor Charlie Kossick had been shot in Vietnam, And I knew him and his sister and his mother. And it was very alive for me, having to watch it on TV and see the horrors of the Saigon evacuation when my mother had just died. So world events, Nicole, trigger me in a major way. And I know this about me. I know it. When Columbine happened, I went on medication for the first time. Thank God I was on it when 911 happened. Thank God I was on it still when Katrina happened. I've never gone off. I tried once when I was feeling particularly good and triaded down with my doctor. And on the fourth day, I was in bed sobbing and couldn't get up. And I said, if I ever tell you I want to go off these again, I want you to read this note to me. And I wrote a note to myself. You are feeling so bad right now, you can't imagine reasons for living. Don't do this again. And I haven't. So I know that I need help managing big feelings. And when the world falls apart, I become incapacitated. So I knew this was going to happen in America. I needed the distance. I needed some time to process all of it without having to be a public figure who would get stopped at the airport or going out to dinner. Not that I go out to dinner a lot, but because I am a homebody, I will order in. I will order in.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

But. Yeah. So I think that world tragedies slay me, and I need to protect myself from them.

[Nicole Wallace]

I wish I knew this about you, because I think, you know, we were four women sort of thrust onto the View in a weird process. I remember walking into my test, and you and Whoopi were the pillars, and then Rosie Perez, and they were sort of casting about for a Republican to fight with the three of you. So I am a Republican. We should get that out of the way, right?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

And I really like her. I swear to God, I really like her. I do. I actually love Her.

[Nicole Wallace]

It makes me cry thinking that we were handed hot topics right on note cards to fight about. And I think as I've aged, I feel the same way. I think everything matters. And I think in this moment, I don't think that nothing matters. I think everything matters. I think every tweet, I think every block that I'm able to do in my two hour show might be the one story, the one thing that makes a difference. And so I really take to heart your criticism of the media. And I wonder what else you think we can do.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

I can do well, you know the reason that Whoopi and I both said her you was cause you're the smartest. And that's what you need when talking about serious issues, really smart people to debate the rights and wrongs. We need to make each other think and make each other not who could be the loudest or who could recite the most accurate Republican talking points. Who had their own point of view and who had their own skin in the game. Right. So when you see somebody with that, there's no choice as to who you would want to do that with. But you know, I think that the placating of him and allowing him to dictate what the news cycle is has to stop. And they need to all band together of mainstream media and say, we will not post his lies without comment anymore. They put him in a press conference talking about Tylenol and autism. It would seem that he's not an expert. And to denigrate women and mothers and call them responsible for taking a headache painkiller is beyond irresponsible. It's misogynistic, it's unbelievable. And everyone let that go by without saying this is pure bullshit. And every time that you don't comment on the insanity that he's showing every day, the deeper we are in. So every journalist of reason and of dignity needs to make a commitment to never placate him again. And if that means don't run his stories on the news, then don't report the facts. He lied today. He went crazy at the un he is a national embarrassment. They have to say the truth, you know, because that John Mayer song, when you trust your television, what you get is what you got. Because when they own the information, they can bend it all they want. And that's what's happened to the United States and the Fourth Estate. And there are so many people who changed the world. Walter Cronkite said, we can't win this war. And that war was ended now. It wasn't as simple as one nightly broadcast. But it started the revolution that ended our involvement in that horrific war. And people saying, I'm canceling my trip to Disney. I'm canceling my hulu, my Disney. $4 billion in four days. Bravo, America. And this is how much power we have. And don't let them tell you we don't. So target is knowing when you sidle up to a dictator, you're not gonna have public support, because they are the minority. The people that want fascism, the bigots, the racists, are the minority. Most Americans, most Republicans, are good people. They are not the horrors that protect pedophiles.

[Nicole Wallace]

Are you surprised that it's the Jeffrey Epstein scandal?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Yes.

[Nicole Wallace]

The most sinister, dark, monstrous things done by a rich, monstrous man that has made the MAGA movement, even the people wholly devoted to Donald Trump, question him.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I would hope to God that the line in the sand is raping young girls. And to find out that maybe it's not is devastating. Is devastating, and you can't ignore it. I don't know, Nicole. I don't know. One sexual abuser that I'm friends with, he didn't write that card for Epstein's birthday. This man is a danger to all the world, and it is our responsibility to get him out of office.

[Nicole Wallace]

What do you like? Who in the Democratic Party speaks in a way that you think matches the moment?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Jasmine Crockett.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah, she's awesome.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

AOC it's the women who are going to save us and probably the women of color because they always bail out the Democrats.

[Nicole Wallace]

What do you advise people in this country who want to not just, you know, take your messages and circulate them, but want to engage in activism? I interviewed Joan Baez last week, and she said it's scarier than it was in the 60s. It's more dangerous now. So I don't tell people to go to the streets because, you know, everyone has to make their own calculations about risk.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, I think find your community. So if you're afraid to go to a protest, and you have every right to be afraid to go to a protest, find out the people in your town who think like you and have a potluck dinner once a month, once every other week, have every other Sunday, them come over to a different person's house and just talk and foreign community and what are you doing? And what am I doing? Like, there's so many things you could do, but you need to surround yourself with community. Because people feeling that they're the only ones saying this or thinking this or. Oh, Rosie, you're so brave. I'm not so brave. Look what I've been giving in my life from this country. I owe this country my loyalty. I owe this country the best of me to help to try to save it from the forces of evil that we've worked against for these 200 some years we've worked against to get the equal rights, you know, for people to have the Civil Rights Act. All we've done to help gay people, and they're vilifying trans people, the minority of. The minority of gay people.

[Nicole Wallace]

Are you scared for your own safety and your own citizenship?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

No, he can't take away my citizenship. And if he can, that's the end of America and I wouldn't need it anyway. I'm in the process of getting my Irish citizenship because my grandparents are from here and you have birthright citizenship. If that's the truth. And I would be, you know, sad if he would take away my citizenship, but it would also mean the America that I knew and loved is gone. Because no president has the right to do that. And we have the Constitution, ladies and gentlemen. That's why our country runs and works, because of the Constitution. And he's disobeying it and he doesn't care about the laws and he does what he wants.

[Nicole Wallace]

What's your sort of final thought about anyone who thinks they can wait this out? This might surprise you as an ex Republican, but I'm totally gobsmacked that business leaders are on the sidelines. Like, we'll see how this goes. Democracy made us rich. But you know, autocracy would work too. No, it doesn't.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

It doesn't work.

[Nicole Wallace]

There is no thriving economy in an autocracy. And so I wonder what makes them think we can ride this out. It's getting more severe by the day, by the hour.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Well, listen, it really is scary, but find community, that's what I would say. Find community of like minded people. Stick together, take care of each other, hide each other if you need to. Would you have hidden Anne Frank in your attic? Would you have taken that risk? You pray to God you would be. I remember those photos of the Civil Rights movement and these white people sitting next to black people at the ice cream shop and getting ice cream poured all over them and people spitting at them. And I just always thought to myself when I, I saw that as a little girl, I want to be one of those white people sitting there next to them so that they are not alone. You know, there's a Tori Amos lyric that moves me so much. And it goes, your mom showed up in a nasty dress and it's your turn now to stand where I stand. Everyone's looking at you. Take a hold of my hand. And I just think those are lyrics to live by for me. Right when people are being dehumanized, be a human being and stand next to them and hold their hand through it and suffer what they suffer. And that's empathy. And that's more valuable than compassion or sympathy. That's empathy.

[Nicole Wallace]

Rosie o', donnell, you are one of one. It's an honor to know you.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Same back at you, Nicole.

[Nicole Wallace]

And to call you my friend. And that flight to Miami, that changed everything.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Yes.

[Nicole Wallace]

And I just want to say I love you and I love knowing you and I love your voice and I love everything you say Back at you.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

I love you too, Nicole, and I'm very glad that we became friends.

[Nicole Wallace]

Thank you, my friend. Thank you so much for your time today.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

All right, I'll see you soon.

[Nicole Wallace]

Thank you so much for listening to the Best People. You can subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts to get this and other MSNBC podcasts ad free. As a subscriber, you'll also get early access and exclusive bonus content. All episodes of the podcast are also available on YouTube. Visit msnbc.com the best people to Watch the Best People is produced by Vicki Vergelina and our senior producer, Lisa Ferry. Our associate producer is Rana Shabazzi. Our audio engineer is Bob Mallory and Bryson Barnes is the head of Audio production. Pat Berkey is a senior executive producer of Deadline White House Brad Gold is the executive producer of Content strategy, Aisha Turner is the executive producer of audio and Madeline Herringer is the senior Vice president in charge of audio, digital and long form. Search for the Best People wherever you get your podcast and be sure to follow the series.

[Rosie O'Donnell]

It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched.

[Nicole Wallace]

With credit cards on the app?

[Rosie O'Donnell]

Some cards are labeled no Ding Decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no Ding Decline cards won't hurt your credit scores if you aren't initially approved. Initial approval will result in a hard inquiry which may impact your credit scores.

[Nicole Wallace]

Experian.