From Queen of Nice to Queen of Twice.
Rosie O’Donnell is starting a new magazine targeted at gay families. Her last venture into the magazine world, Rosie, was aimed, you might say, at straight families–it was supposed to be competition to Martha Stewart Living and Oprah Winfrey’s O, both catering to the elegant-housewife set. Rosie (the magazine, that is) crashed and burned in December 2002 after less than two years of publication. So I guess Rosie (the human) is trying something a little different this time around.
Rosie O’Donnell, as we all know, used to be a talk-show host known for her warm and cheery personality. But not long after she started her first magazine, she canceled the show and all that nicey-nice stuff. She started dissing the celebrities she once courted, including (as might be expected) Oprah herself. O’Donnell told a cancer survivor that people who lie “get cancer.” Then she and the magazine’s publishers, Gruner & Jahr, got into snits about why it didn’t seem to be making any money. Rosie said G&J were making the magazine too “girlie” (as Eonline.com put it). It all ended in a mammouth lawsuit after G&J pulled the plug. G&J sued Rosie for $100 million for allegedly walking away from the magazine, and Rosie countersued G&J for $125 million for allegedly cutting her out of editorial decisions. The suit wound up in a draw last November when a judge ruled that neither side was entitled to anything.
Even though I don’t have a gay family myself, I might have to subscribe to the new mag–Rosie O’Donnell scares the hell out of me these days.