Rosie O'Donnell has responded to longtime friend Kathy Griffin after the comedian publicly admitted her feelings were hurt over not being invited on Jimmy Kimmel Live! O'Donnell, sixty-four, has been guest-hosting the ABC late night show this week while Kimmel is away on summer vacation. Griffin, sixty-five, had been expecting her old pal to bring her on as a guest.Griffin opened up about her disappointment on her podcast, Talk Your Head Off."I'm just going to come out and say it. Are you ready? It's embarrassing to say, but I have to tell you guys because we're friends. My feelings are really hurt that I was not invited to go on Rosie's week of the Jimmy Kimmel show," she shared.O'Donnell, that being said, left a characteristically simple response for her friend via Instagram comment."Kathy- shoulda called me honey – I didn't choose the guests …" she said. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostKathy Griffin opens up about feeling let down by Rosie O'Donnell:Kathy Griffin attends the 2025 Out100 Celebration at Nya Studios on November 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, California - Source: GettyGriffin was quick to clarify that despite her hurt feelings, her friendship with O'Donnell remains intact. As per her Talk Your Head Off podcast, Griffin addressed the state of their relationship directly."We're good pals. We're like sisters, and everybody knows sisters fight, sisters and brothers fight. Best friends fight, relatives, co-workers fight. And we're not even fighting," she shared.Griffin then explained her initial reaction when she found out Rosie O'Donnell would be taking over Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a full week."I'm just being honest that when I found out that Rosie was going to take over for a full week for my beloved Jimmy Kimmel — I love that he said to the camera, 'And I'm doing it as a special treat to Donald Trump' — and I thought, 'Oh, fantastic,'" she continued.U.S. President Donald Trump walks over to Air Force One after landing in Marine One at Morristown Municipal Airport on August 16, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey - Source: GettyGriffin then brought up her infamous 2017 photo, which showed her holding a Halloween mask covered in fake blood resembling Trump, and explained that the backlash from her own community caught her off guard."And, instead, what happened was quite the opposite, and in my own community of Hollywood, of stand-up comedy, where you're supposed to be edgy, you're supposed to make political statements as well as be funny. In my opinion, that's what the greats do, that's who the greats I admire did. It did not go that way for me initially," she said.As per a report shared by Fox News, Griffin shared that Rosie O'Donnell had made remarks on The Tangle with Kyle Ridley that were not supportive of her decision to post the photo, a situation which left Griffin feeling let down by her longtime friend.Kathy Griffin explains why she and Rosie O'Donnell share a unique bond over their outspoken stances:Rosie O'Donnell poses during the 2025 AFLW Pride Round Media Opportunity at Ikon Park on October 13, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia - Source: GettyGriffin also revealed that she had a chance to catch up with Rosie O'Donnell on a recent flight to Los Angeles, and noted that she had personally told her she would love to be a guest on the show.She then expanded on why she felt the two of them appearing together would have made for compelling television."I mean, think about it. You've got these two women who share this very unique thing in common. And while what happened to me was much more extreme than what happened to Rosie, it's pretty unusual that you've got these two women that have been so outspoken about — well he wasn't the president when she talked about him on The View. But, he was the president when I talked about him and as I have spoken about before most of Hollywood turned on me overnight," she said.By the end of her remarks, Griffin acknowledged that O'Donnell may have had no say in booking guests despite guest-hosting the show. Griffin encouraged her listeners to continue supporting Rosie O'Donnell and to keep watching Jimmy Kimmel Live!Rosie O'Donnell sarcastically credits Trump for returning her to the network television spotlight:As per a report shared by Fox News, O'Donnell has been using her guest-hosting run on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to take aim at Trump, referring to the president as "Mango Mussolini" during Monday's episode.On Tuesday, she took things a step further during her opening monologue, sarcastically crediting Trump for bringing her back to network television."I'm back in the spotlight all thanks to President Oompa J. Loompa, who is watching us this evening from inside a catering cart. You know, I couldn't have done it without you, sweetie. You brought me back just like you did with fascism and the measles," O'Donnell said.