Share and Follow
Rosie O’Donnell is never one to shy away from speaking her mind, and recently, she did just that by opening up about her experiences with guests on her legendary talk show. In a rather unexpected twist, she named one of Hollywood’s most cherished figures, Keanu Reeves, as among the “worst” guests she encountered.
Keanu Reeves, the beloved star of blockbuster hits like John Wick and The Matrix, is often celebrated as the internet’s darling. However, O’Donnell, 62, offered a different perspective during her appearance on the Australian talk show Sam Pang Tonight on October 13.
While she fondly recalled Barbra Streisand as her favorite guest and praised Martin Short as the best, O’Donnell candidly recounted that Reeves’ 1997 appearance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show posed unexpected challenges.
“One of the worst guests, although I adore him, was Keanu Reeves,” she revealed, prompting a surprised reaction from the audience. She elaborated, “He’s incredibly sweet, stunningly handsome, and I love all his films, but he just wouldn’t engage in conversation.”
O’Donnell described the struggle of engaging with Reeves, saying, “I’d ask, ‘So, Keanu, how’s it going? How are you feeling?’ and he’d respond with a simple ‘Good.’ It was a live show, so retakes weren’t an option. After a few minutes of this, I finally had to tell him, ‘You know, Keanu, it is a talk show. You have to talk.’”
According to Rosie, Reeves eventually “got the hang of it” when he returned to the show later. “But he’s a lovely man and a good-hearted guy, so I don’t wanna throw him under the bus,” she added.
Of course, Rosie couldn’t resist throwing someone under the bus. “I could have said Tom Selleck, which would have been easy to do,” she quipped, referencing her infamous 1999 interview with the Blue Bloods star.
The fiery exchange with Selleck came shortly after the Columbine High School tragedy. At the time, Selleck had appeared in a full-page NRA advertisement that read, “I am the NRA. Shooting teaches children good values.” Rosie recalled, “It was very awkward, because I had never been unkind or controversial, but Columbine had just happened. It was 1999, and he had an ad in magazines that said, ‘I am the NRA, shooting teaches children good values,’ and I was so torn up about Columbine that I just didn’t give up. Like an innocent idiot, I said to my staff, ‘Do you think that will get any press?’”
The interview made major headlines, with Selleck accusing O’Donnell of “questioning my humanity” as she pressed him about his responsibility for gun deaths.