Rosie O’Donnell Says ABC Blocked Epstein Survivors Segment on Kimmel

Rosie O’Donnell said in a recent interview on the Jann Arden Podcast (via HuffPost) that ABC blocked a planned segment with Jeffrey Epstein survivors during her stint guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“My idea for the last night was to do the Epstein reveal, and they said that they were certain that could not happen,” O’Donnell said. “And so I said, ‘Well, then I’m going to do it myself and just put it out on our [own].'”

O’Donnell explained that she had been working with a woman named Laura from the advocacy group Survivor Sisters to bring in “a cross-section” of eight women. “We met, and I told them about my history, and I told them why it means so much to me and to the human race, and why this is [of] vital importance. We shot it in a few hours — two hours; we shot the whole thing.”

In the video, which O’Donnell later posted to her Instagram, O’Donnell and seven Epstein survivors (one couldn’t make it because her child had lice) sing Helen Reddy’s feminist anthem “I Am Woman” together.

“I know it’s been very hard for you and with very little support,” she says to the women to open the clip. “And I’m sorry that our country is so fucked up that this is what you have to live through, because you are all heroes. And you’re going to change how the world deals with child sex abuse.”

In the caption, O’Donnell added, “After the corrupt AG (Trump’s former personal lawyer) implied that he did not believe men accused of sex [abuse] would be charged as a result of the Epstein files — despite mountains of evidence — I called some Epstein survivors [and] asked them to sing with me a powerful Helen Reddy song that taught me at 10 years old to use my voice.” Watch the video below.

While O’Donnell did not explain why ABC turned down her pitch, she did mention earlier in the podcast that the “Donnie Boy” monologue she delivered on her final night was originally slated to open her guest-host run. However, it was nixed last-minute, and she merely gave him a shout-out instead.

The comedian speculated that ABC made this decision due to the FCC lawsuit it filed the next day, accusing the agency of violating its First Amendment rights and waging a “retaliatory campaign” against the network. “The next day when I woke up, I went, ‘Now I understand,'” O’Donnell recalled.

Watch the full podcast interview below. The relevant segment begins at the 34:31 mark.

O’Donnell hosted Kimmel from August 17th through 20th, setting a ratings high for any of the show’s guest hosts this summer.