Arts & Entertainment

Elisabeth Hasselbeck prayed after hearing Rosie O’Donnell had a crush on her

The comedian says there were ‘underlying lesbian tones’

Published

5 years ago

March 27, 2019

**Elisabeth Hasselbeck** on ‘Fox & Friends.’ (Screenshot via Fox)

Elisabeth Hasselbeck says she “immediately started praying” after hearing that Rosie O’Donnell had a crush on her when they were co-hosts on “The View.”

In O’Donnell’s new memoir “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View,'” O’Donnell revealed she once had a “little bit of a crush” on Hasselbeck but that it wasn’t sexual.

“Not that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to support, raise, elevate her, like she was the freshman star shortstop and I was the captain of the team,” O’Donnell writes.'” “I was going to Scottie Pippen her. If I was Jordan, I was going to give her and the ball and let her shoot. But it was in no way sexualized.”

Hasselbeck appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday and called O’Donnell’s comments “disturbing.”

“I’ll be very honest. I read it and I immediately started praying. Because I’m like, how am I going to handle this in my old self would be another split screen moment, but now I really feel like by God’s grace I just started praying — and I pray now the Holy Spirit gives me the words to articulate this — but I think it can be addressed with both truth and grace,” Hasselbeck says.

She continued: “I think what she said was reckless, untrue and, not only insulting, disturbing when it comes to how she felt about somebody in the workplace. If you replace what Rosie said and you take her name out and you put in ‘Reuben’ or ‘Robert’ then we would be in a situation where you would see the objectification of a woman in the workplace. That’s disturbing because where we may be really against that when it comes from a man to a woman, you don’t get a pass because you’re a lesbian objectifying a woman in the workplace. You just don’t.”

O’Donnell also noted in her book that there were “underlying lesbian tones on both [of their] parts” and hinted it was because Hasselbeck is a former softball player.

“There are not many, in my life, girls with such athletic talent on sports teams that are traditionally male that aren’t at least a little bit gay,” O’Donnell wrote.

Hasselbeck felt O’Donnell was stereotyping women who play sports.

“I think her casting a stereotype on female athletes and what she said … that all female athletes are a little bit gay … I would say this directly to her, and I would say, ‘That’s an unfair stereotype and it seems selfish in a way and I think that it’s untrue,'” Hasselbeck says.

Ultimately, Hasselbeck says she forgives O’Donnell despite her “disturbing” and “offensive” remarks.

“I can handle that with the grace of God because I need grace and I need forgiveness,” Hasselbeck says. “So Rosie, I think it was disturbing to read those things and it was offensive to me, but I forgive her. I totally forgive you, Rosie. I really hope that we can be at peace and that we can both hold our beliefs in one hand and hold each other’s hand in the other and still have a relationship that’s at peace.”

O’Donnell responded on Twitter that she’s “sorry” Hasselbeck “got scared.”

hey eh – my crush on u was not sexual – sorry u got scared – ❤️surely u recall b4 it all went wrong – i never objectified u – i did find u fantastic – broadway shows – my pool -we were friends once ❤️ god love ya kid – i always did #hasselbeck #raminSUX
— ROSIE (@Rosie) March 26, 2019

Hasselbeck and O’Donnell’s infamously butted heads on “The View”during an argument about the Iraq War in 2007.

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FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Arts & Entertainment

2024 Best of LGBTQ DC Readers’ Choice Award Finalist Voting

Published

12 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Staff reports

It is time to celebrate the best of LGBTQ+ DC! You nominated and now we have our finalists. Vote for your favorites in our 2024 Best of LGBTQ DC categories through September 23rd. Our 2024 Best of LGBTQ DC will be announced at the Best of L GBTQ DC Awards Party on October 17th and our special issue will come out on Friday, October 18th.

Thank you to our sponsors: ABSOLUT, Crush, Infinite Legacy & Wild Side Media.

VOTE BELOW OR BY CLICKING HERE!

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Out & About

Nu Sass Productions to celebrate 15th anniversary

‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ performed at DC Arts Center

Published

2 days ago

September 8, 2024

Tinashe Chingarande

Nu Sass Productions will mark its 15th anniversary with a resurrection of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” beginning Friday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. at the DC Arts Center.

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” debuted at the Capital Fringe Festival in 2009 and will return this year with a new cast and crew.

Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased via the Nu Sass website.

Theater

Explore new venues, productions during D.C. Theatre Week

30 shows, including musicals, comedies, dramas, premieres, and more

Published

3 days ago

September 7, 2024

Patrick Folliard

Michael Ramirez serves as a Helen Hayes Awards judge and board member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. (Photo by DJ Corey Photography)

2024 Theatre Week
Sept. 26-Oct. 13
Theatreweek.org

For Michael Ramirez, theater remains an ongoing source of inspiration and pleasure. As a little boy in El Paso, Texas, his mom took him to see lots of kids’ shows. And later in high school, he played one of the Sharks in “West Side Story.” All fond memories.

At the University of Texas in Austin for social work (undergraduate) and social work/public administration (graduate school) and then as a successful human resources professional and policy wonk in Washington, Ramirez continued to enjoy theater from the audience or behind the scenes. Now retired, he serves as a Helen Hayes Awards judge and board member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.

Theatre Washington is the umbrella organization that not only produces the Helen Hayes Awards but also Theatre Week, an annual celebratory launch of the season with shows at low prices, a free kickoff fest, and other fun events.

The 2024 Theatre Week, explains Ramirez, features about 30 varied productions in the DMV, including musicals, comedies, dramas, new works, premieres, and works geared to young audiences. And tickets are affordably discounted at $60, $40, and $20.

“It’s a great opportunity to take a chance on a theater that you might not be familiar with,” he says. “When it comes to seeing shows, a lot of people think Kennedy Center or Ford’s. This can be an introduction to something entirely new. D.C. is a busy theater town with lots of companies and venues.”

At the heart of Theatre Week are its plays and musicals. Ramirez has already made his list.

His picks include GALA Hispanic Theatre’s “The 22+ Weddings of Hugo” featuring out actor Carlos Castillo as Hugo and staged by out director José Zayas; busy out playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “The Comeuppance” at Woolly Mammoth; and “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” at Nu Sass Productions.

He also plans to see Mosaic Theatre’s “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” a play with music about jazz legend/queer icon Billie Holiday starring Roz White; ExPats Theatre’s “Marlene,” featuring Karin Rosnizeck as legendary diva Marlene Dietrich; and Rorschach Theatre’s “Sleeping Giant” written by gay playwright Steve Yockey well known as the developer of the HBO Max comedy-drama television series “The Flight Attendant.”

Ramirez adds, “And as a good gay, I can’t miss ‘Sondheim Tribute Revue’ at Creative Cauldron.”

There are also parties and outdoor events. He advises a few of his favorites.

On Monday, Sept. 9, Woolly Mammoth hosts a Theatre Week Launch Party replete with drinks and season sneak peaks (invitation only).

The Historic Theatre Walking Tour (Sept. 21) asks the public to check out downtown D.C. theaters with guides Farar Elliot and Chris Geidner (free). And with City on the River Concert (Sept. 22), Theatre Washington returns to the D.C. Wharf Transit Pier to present “musical theater showstoppers” from a dozen of the season’s upcoming shows (free).

Next up it’s “DC Theatre at the Nats” (Sept. 24), a night out at the ballgame that baseball lover Ramirez is sure to attend. And typically, he says, performers from a local show or company are booked to sing the anthem ($20).

And big event Kickoff Fest 2024, an all-afternoon event for all ages, takes place on Sept. 28 at Arena Stage (also free).

Not surprisingly Ramirez fell for another theater aficionado. He and husband John Ralls got together in 1990 and married in 2014. Ralls is a board member at Rorschach.

As board members, they “function as ambassadors and marketers for the theater. We reach into our pockets and write the checks. We buy the season tickets, and encourage our friends to do the same.”

Ramirez enthusiastically reiterates: “Theatre Week is especially fun. Again, tickets are reasonable. There’s everything from puppet plays at Glen Echo Park to something more serious. It’s the perfect chance to try something new.”