Rosie O'Donnell has stated that ABC rejected her proposal for a segment on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that would have featured survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. O'Donnell, who served as a guest host on the show, said her idea was to dedicate her final night to the Epstein survivors.
"They said that they were certain that could not happen," O'Donnell said during an appearance on the "Jann Arden Podcast." "And so I said, ‘Well, then I’m going to do it myself and just put it out on our [own].'"
While the segment did not air on ABC, O'Donnell later shared a video on social media. The clip showed her meeting with the survivors, who were all wearing white, and singing Helen Reddy's anthem "I Am Woman." In the video, O'Donnell told the women, "You are all heroes, and you’re going to change how the world deals with child sex abuse."
The video was posted on September 3, marking one year since survivors gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to advocate for the release of files related to Epstein's crimes by the Trump administration. O'Donnell captioned her post, indicating she contacted the women after former Trump attorney Todd Blanche reportedly suggested that men accused of sex abuse might not face charges following a Justice Department review of the files. Survivors had previously criticized Blanche for protecting individuals accused of abuse after the Justice Department released personal information about some survivors while redacting details about their abusers.
O'Donnell mentioned that the social media post led some fans to believe she had produced a documentary, though the video was filmed over a few hours. She also indicated that she is in discussions to create individual videos with the women featured in the clip, stating that outside of her, "no famous person has called to stand beside them."
Representatives for ABC and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" were contacted by HuffPost for comment.