Rosie O’Donnell sat down with Kara Swisher on her podcast on Monday to preview her upcoming time as guest host of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! During their conversation, O’Donnell would lament ABC wouldn’t let her sing about Trump’s “teeny tiny penis," which not only highlighted the nakedly partisan slant of the show but omitted the copyright issues at play because Jimmy Kimmel Live! does parodies all the time.
O’Donnell told Swisher that she views her job as a guest host to echo Kimmel’s nightly anti-Trump obsessions, “I think that I plan on doing what Jimmy Kimmel has done so beautifully, which is giving it to him in a comedic, honest, truthful way. And I will do that as big as I can.”
Rosie O'Donnell previews her upcoming Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest hosting duties by saying "Now, the song that I sang in my show, 'If Only He Had a Brain.' I wanted to do that on Kimmel. But they just told me I can't. That they couldn't get permission for the parody because it's… pic.twitter.com/4tA3aIDQ3w
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 4, 2026
She then lamented, “I wanted to do that on Kimmel. But they just told me I can't. That they couldn't get permission for the parody because it's political content. And I was like, ‘Well, that is absurd to me,’ because we used to do parodies every day on my show.
From Mike Lindell to JD Vance to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kimmel has parodies and satires on his show all the time. On rarer occasions, Josh Meyers will even stop by to impersonate Gavin Newsom.
As it was, O’Donnell obliged Swisher’s desire to provide a snippet of what could have been. O’Donnell sang, “His approval rate is 30. His diaper's always dirty, I think the guy's insane. He ain't no stable genius. Got a teeny tiny penis and he doesn't have a brain.”
Not only does Kimmel do political parodies, he has made jokes about the size of various MAGA figures’ penises before. If O’Donnell is trying to claim ABC is censoring her, the material must either be really bad or there is something else going on. Earlier guest hosts have not exactly been kind to Republicans, and neither the developments surrounding the FCC and ABC nor his September suspension have moderated Kimmel. It is probable ABC is concerned about copyright issues. Last year, guest host Martin Short did his own anti-Trump musical parody, but that was to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” which is in the public domain.
Still, O’Donnell continued, “I plan on doing whatever we can and working with the writers and his team and honoring just how brave and bold he has been.”
Swisher then moved on to another aspect of hosting a late night show, “Can you give us a preview of your guests?”
O’Donnell lamented, “No, no. I wanted to have Miss Rachel.”
After Swisher affirmed, “Oh, she’s amazing,” O’Donnell continued, “She, I think, is, you know, Mr. Rogers now for our contemporary time. And she's brilliant and brave and bold. And I admire her greatly. And we are going to give away her doll, but she couldn't make it, or they couldn't book it. I don't know exactly why, but they’ve asked me not to tell who the guests are.”
Mr. Rogers would not have chosen to platform anti-Semitism and Hamas apologia, but the fact that O’Donnell would have says more about her and Kimmel than it does Trump or the size of his genitals.
Here is a transcript for the August 3 show:
On with Kara Swisher
8/3/2026
ROSIE O’DONNELL: I think that I plan on doing what Jimmy Kimmel has done so beautifully, which is giving it to him in a comedic, honest, truthful way. And I will do that as big as I can. Now, the song that I sang in my show, "If Only He Had a Brain"—
KARA SWISHER: Yeah.
O’DONNELL: I wanted to do that on Kimmel. But they just told me I can't.
SWISHER: Oh.
O’DONNELL: That they couldn't get permission for the parody because it's political content. And I was like, “Well, that is absurd to me,” because we used to do parodies every day on my show.
SWISHER: Right, I don't understand.
O’DONNELL: Well, I've been told I'm not allowed to do that. Now, I don't know. It's not Jimmy—
SWISHER: Would you like to sing a bit of it here?
O’DONNELL: Yes. “His approval rate is 30. His diaper's always dirty, I think the guy's insane. He ain't no stable genius. Got a teeny tiny penis and he doesn't have a brain.”
But it's a long song. And I got tremendous response at the show.
SWISHER: You did. You did.
O’DONNELL: But I plan on doing whatever we can and working with the writers and his team and honoring just how brave and bold he has been.
SWISHER: Yeah, he has been.
O’DONNELL: And I admire him greatly. I've never been on his show. So, this will be the first time as the guest host.
SWISHER: You have a full week.
O’DONNEL: I have a full week, yes. And I'm thrilled that he asked me.
SWISHER: Yeah.
O’DONNELL: And I hope I can follow just his lead.
SWISHER: Can you give us a preview of your guests?
O’DONNELL: No, no. I wanted to have Miss Rachel.
SWISHER: Oh, she’s amazing.
O’DONNELL: She, I think, is, you know, Mr. Rogers now for our contemporary time. And she's brilliant and brave and bold. And I admire her greatly. And we are going to give away her doll, but she couldn't make it, or they couldn't book it. I don't know exactly why, but they’ve asked me not to tell who the guests are.
