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

Rosie O’Donnell says ABC blocked her plan to bring survivors of Jeffrey Epstein onto Jimmy Kimmel Live! during her week filling in as host.

O’Donnell guest-hosted four episodes of the late-night show, meaning she stood in for regular host Jimmy Kimmel, during the week of Aug. 17. She made the claim about the blocked segment in an interview on The Jann Arden Podcast, as reported by Variety.

Her idea, she said, was for the final night. O’Donnell wanted to use that broadcast for what she called the Epstein reveal. ABC told her it could not happen.

O’Donnell said she then organised the shoot herself. Eight women took part, she said, and it was filmed in two hours for release on her own social media.

She posted the video to Instagram on Sept. 3. It shows O’Donnell with seven Epstein survivors, all dressed in white, joining together to sing Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.”

O’Donnell has also said the Trump administration pressured ABC to stop the television interview from going ahead, according to LGBTQ Nation. That remains her account. It has not been confirmed by the network.

For viewers, this means the segment lives outside television. The TV slot did not happen. The Instagram video did.

O’Donnell said she is in talks to make more videos with the survivors after pushback from ABC executives, as reported by HuffPost. No details of those talks have been made public.

Neither ABC nor Jimmy Kimmel Live! had yet responded to requests for comment on O’Donnell’s claim, according to Yahoo Entertainment.