Rosie O'Donnell Returns to Late-Night as Guest Host of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
Rosie O'Donnell took over the desk at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 17 August 2026, stepping in for Jimmy Kimmel during his summer vacation and turning a week of guest-hosting into a nationally televised reunion with late-night television (Variety).
The offer surprised her. O'Donnell, 64, told Variety she had never been asked on as a guest and described her past relationship with Kimmel as "adversarial." She accepted, she said, in part because Kimmel had faced pressure from Donald Trump's camp to get his show cancelled, and she wanted to support him (Variety).
Kimmel, for his part, framed the booking as a pointed joke. He teased that O'Donnell's stint would be "a special treat" for Trump, who has carried a grudge against her since she mocked his bankruptcies on The View in 2006 — a feud now two decades old (Variety).
O'Donnell did not let the reference pass quietly. In her monologue she called Trump "Mango Mussolini" and cited Project 2025 as the reason she left the United States for Ireland, where she has been living for the past two years (Variety). She also looked into the camera and told Trump, "I know you're watching," before teasing that she planned to perform a "love song" for him (Deadline).
The week carried a heavier note as well. Hayden Panettiere, the actress known to audiences from Heroes and Nashville, died on the Sunday before O'Donnell's guest-hosting episode at the age of 36 (Variety). O'Donnell paid tribute to her on the broadcast. Panettiere had been a favourite child-actress guest on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, O'Donnell's daytime talk show that ran from 1996 to 2002 (Variety).
Kimmel's own monologue during the week included a surprise appearance from Matt Damon, a recurring bit in the show's long-running mock feud between host and actor (The Wrap). The official Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel published a clip titled "Guest Host Rosie O'Donnell Makes Her Talk Show Return," and ABC's streaming page lists her among the show's guest hosts (YouTube; ABC.com).
O'Donnell announced the gig three days before it began, in a video on her TikTok account crediting ABC (TikTok). According to Entertainment Weekly, she is now eyeing a full-time return to late-night television (EW).
For a host who built her name in daytime and then stepped away from American screens, a week behind a late-night desk is already a turn few expected — and one that, if the speculation holds, may not be the last.
