Megyn Kelly cannot contain her fury over one of Jimmy Kimmel’s summer guest hosts.
The conservative commentator used time on her eponymous SiriusXM show on Monday to slam Kimmel for choosing Rosie O’Donnell to sub in for him later this summer.
Kimmel announced his rotation of guest hosts on his Thursday episode, which includes Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, and Jelly Roll. “And, as a special treat for our commander-in-chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” Kimmel quipped as he addressed Trump directly, “And all I ask in return, Mr. President, is that you don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone. OK?” O’Donnell’s hosting stint is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 17.
Kelly snarked at the choice, “Jimmy Kimmel’s going on vacay for two months. Do you have a two-month vacay? Probably not. Do you have 30 acres in Martha’s Vineyard? Probably not… And guess who he has sub-hosting for him? It’s a litany of left-wing comedians, most of whom you don’t know very well because he’s worried about his job security,” she went on.
“So, he’s got to find people who are lesser than he is. Um, but none more so than the next person I’m going to show you, who actually gave an interview recently to Jim Acosta,” she added, rolling a clip from Friday in which O’Donnell told CNN’s former Chief White House Correspondent, “I think Kamala won. I do. And I think that we’re going to find all this out.”
“It’s going to come out. And I’m not the first person to say this,” O’Donnell continues in the clip, “There are all these researchers who were saying it. I read it online again today.”
Mocking O’Donnell, Kelly added, “I was told by some reliable sources that election denialism is wrong and basically makes you an insurrectionist or a supporter.”
Kelly then expressed her faux concern that the comedian will bring her thoughts on the election to Jimmy Kimmel Live. “We have real questions about whether Rosie will be offering bits like this speculative questioning she gave to us a year or so ago,” she said.
“Wonder if she’s going to be bringing this up to Jimmy’s audience, which is ever dwindling,” Kelly added, despite the show having its most-watched season in eight years in 2025-2026.
Kelly and O’Donnell have a long history of trading verbal blows. O’Donnell slammed the web host on Twitter in 2018, writing, “Megyn Kelly is a moron— spineless wanna be barbie —she sucks and so does her show,” after Kelly got into a heated on-air back-and-forth with Jane Fonda.
Kelly didn’t respond to O’Donnell directly at the time, but had plenty to say on Monday, as she mocked the actress for a video post about having a cold sore.
“So, MAGA gave her herpes, and now she’s guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel,” Kelly said. “Uh, note to the guests, don’t get too close. Do not do the hello kiss when you arrive on stage.”
O’Donnell fled the U.S. for Ireland with her child before Trump took office the second time, amid their years-long feud, during which Trump has threatened to use the authority of his office to retaliate. O’Donnell has continued to hold his feet to the fire since she left the country last January.
Kimmel is expected to return to his show in early September.
