Rosie O’Donnell says ABC executives rejected an Epstein-related segment she had proposed for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” during her August stint as guest host, telling her flatly that it “could not happen.”
Ms. O’Donnell made the claim in a recent appearance on the Jann Arden Podcast, where she said her idea for her final night hosting the ABC late-night show was “to do the Epstein reveal” — a plan network executives shut down before it could air. “They were certain that could not happen,” she told the podcast’s hosts, adding that she decided to pursue the idea on her own instead.
Two weeks later, on Sept. 3, Ms. O’Donnell posted a video to Instagram showing herself with eight Epstein survivors, all dressed in white, singing Helen Reddy’s 1972 feminist anthem “I Am Woman.” In the caption, she said she organized the gathering after Attorney General Todd Blanche — President Trump’s former personal lawyer — made comments that she characterized as suggesting no men would be charged in connection with the Epstein files.
The rejected segment lands amid a broader standoff between ABC and the Federal Communications Commission. In August, ABC and parent company Disney sued the FCC on First Amendment grounds, arguing the agency’s accelerated review of the network’s broadcast licenses amounted to retaliation for its editorial decisions. An FCC spokesperson countered that “all broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest.”
The dispute has also touched Mr. Kimmel’s own show. Earlier this month, he announced he was pulling a taped interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from television, posting it to YouTube instead, where it drew 5 million views in 24 hours. Mr. Kimmel said the decision came after the FCC “threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network.” The White House has denied the FCC threatened Mr. Kimmel over the Talarico booking, dismissing his account as “play-acting.”
Ms. O’Donnell did not say why ABC blocked her proposed segment.
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