Photos: Fame/Flynet

Rosie O’Donnell appeared on the Today show Tuesday morning, and caused quite a stir when she announced Lindsay Lohan should not play Elizabeth Taylor in an upcoming lifetime movie. ”I think she needs a lot of help. She needs a lot of time away,”  O’Donnell said. “She’s had a lot of trouble doing every single movie, including ‘SNL.’ She was out and not in rehearsal. I think she’s not in a place to work.”

Lindsay’s rep Steve Honig fired off a statement to PerezHilton.com that said  ”I think Rosie should focus on her own career instead of worrying about everyone else’s.”

Now it’s Michael Lohan’s turn. Her dad had a few stronger words for O’Donnell. He sent an email to the Huffington Post:

From what I remember, the Bible says for he/she who is without sin, let them cast the first stone and judge not, lest you be judged. With that being said, is Rosie in ANY position to judge anyone? Failed marriage, two failed shows, slamming other celebs and high profile people. PLEASE! My daughter and even I, may have had our issues in life, but it’s about making things right and turning things around, right Rosie? I was and am the first one to point out my own faults, Lindsay’s and even others’ when we are wrong, but when we are not, I will fight tooth and nail for what’s right! In this case, Rosie, you are wrong. So why don’t you, and all in agreement with you, just sit back. Shut up and see if Lindsay proves herself before blabbing your unwarranted opinions.

What do you think – should Rosie have kept her comments to herself?

Photos: Here are some new pictures of Lindsay and Ali having lunch together at Joans on Third in Hollywood.

Photos: Fame/Flynet

Looks like Michael Lohan wants to put in his two cents when it comes to his daughter’s controversial casting as the late Elizabeth Taylor.

Surprise, surprise.

According to TMZ,  Lohan said that Rosie O’Donnell, who called Lindsay incapable of playing Elizabeth Taylor, was a “failure.”  He tells TMZ, “Who the hell is Rosie O’Donnell to judge anyone, especially Lindsay, who has far more talent than Rosie ever had? Lindsay’s talent isn’t limited to being a comedian or getting notoriety for adopting and raising a bunch of kids. Sure, [Lindsay] has her pitfalls, but she is 25, and how old is Rosie?”

Yikes.  This is going to put a lot of pressure on Ms. Lohan to make this performance one to remember…

Photo: Fame/Flynet

There’s one person who’s not excited about Lindsay Lohan being cast to play Elizabeth Taylor, and surprisingly, it’s Rosie O’Donnell.

O’Donnell stopped by the Today Show this morning, and didn’t have anything nice to say about Lindsay being cast to play the late actress in a new Lifetime biopic.

”She’s had a lot of trouble doing every single movie, including ‘SNL.’ She was out and not in rehearsal. I think she’s not in a place to work.”

“I feel sorry for her. I think she needs a lot of time away,” she continued.

Fellow panelist Donny Deutsch countered, “She’s our generation’s Elizabeth Taylor!”

O’Donnell yelled, “You’re out of your mind! You’re a crackhead! The last thing she did good she was sixteen.”

“I don’t think she’s right for the role, and I don’t think she’s capable at this point to portray that character.”

Just yesterday, Lindsay officially announced she’s taken the role in ‘Liz & Dick’, a movie which will focus on Taylor’s fiery relationship with her two-time husband and actor Richord Burton.

What do you think? Was Rosie right to say something? Out of line? Sound off below!

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Oprah’s new network is taking a beating over the last couple days, and who know’s what’s coming next!

Friday it was announced that Oprah was cancelling Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show because of poor ratings. According to Radar Online, one former staffer said of the show “It was such a f**king hellhole!”

Oprah called Rosie herself to let her down easy, and “it was a very strained conversation, obviously,” according to a source close to the situation. “Oprah wanted to handle the announcement of the cancellation in a professional and dignified manner. Rosie thanked Oprah for the opportunity and ended the conversation very abruptly. OWN’s public relations team and Rosie’s publicist handled the language in the press release. Rosie didn’t like the initial language of the press release because she felt that it placed sole responsibility of the failure of the show on her. Oprah didn’t need to get Rosie’s input or approval for the press release, but she was trying to be gracious. Up until the moment that the press release was sent out, Rosie wanted changes made, but Oprah instructed the release to go out, because it needed to go out, and she was just over the drama,” the source added.

Oprah released a statement on the canceling of Rosie’s show: “I thank Rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. She has been an incredible partner, working to deliver the best possible show every single day. As I have learned in the last 15 months, a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. I’m grateful to Rosie and the dedicated Rosie Show team for giving it their all.”

Leave it to Donald Trump (who has never had anything nice to say about Rosie) to dance on her grave.

Trump went on Twitter this morning and wrote, “Rosie O’Donnell has failed again. Her ratings were abysmal and Oprah cancelled her on Friday night.”

He added: “When will media executives learn that Rosie just hasn’t got it. ”

Of course, Trump has been bashing Rosie for years … claiming she was a “pig” and a “loser” after she called him a “snake-oil salesman.”

As for Rosie … we’re told her opinion of the staff was clear — The writers couldn’t write, the producers couldn’t produce, the stage manager couldn’t manage, and the director couldn’t direct.

Mind you, most of these people were seasoned vets who worked on that little show called “Oprah.”

We’re told Rosie’s tantrums were predictable and regular. The one word several high level staffers used to describe R.O. is “bully.”

Our sources connected with the show tell us the staff hated Ro … and the consensus is it was the worst experience they ever had on TV.

And Rosie wasn’t OWN’s only casualty. TMZ is reporting that Oprah slashed the jobs of 15 people at her network today, including two top executives. [UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is saying the number is double that. They're reporting Oprah's network fired 30 people.]

Sources connected to OWN tell us … people from at least 3 departments were let go … including the creative services dept., integrated marketing and promo scheduling.

We’re told one of the casualties was the head of the creative services department.

One source tells us the group included people with years of experience in the industry as well as newcomers.

The timing is interesting … considering O just cancelled Rosie O’Donnell’s show. OWN has been struggling with low ratings since its launch.

One source tells us, “It’s like a ghost town over there.”

It sure seems to me like Oprah just got greedy. She had one of the highest rated (if not THE highest rated) shows on daytime TV, was making a bazillion dollars, but chose to leave so she could start her OWN network. Looks like that’s not working out too well for her!

TMZ & RadarOnline

Rosie O’Donnell gushed about her bride-to-be Michelle Rounds and their upcoming wedding.  Rosie always keeps it real:

“She’s like Ann-Margret.  I constantly go, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ ”

“I’m not a Barbie. She has Mattel stamped on her a**.  She’s literally perfection.”

“She’s so unbelievably connected and refined.  I so love her embracing her femininity in a real feminist manner. To be able to be a lesbian, feminine, feminist is pretty sexy.”

Her kids are excited about the upcoming nuptials:

“They want to be in it. They want to be in tuxedos and dresses and do the whole thing. They’re really excited!”

Rosie says of the planning portion:

“It’s kind of weird, like we met with some swanky-ass people,”

You gotta love Rosie.  No matter how rich she is, she just says it like it is.

Source

Heading back to the air in a brand new setting, Rosie O’Donnell will be heard and not seen. The familiar TV face is launching her own daily, two-hour show for Sirius XM Radio this fall, to be called – what else? – Rosie Radio.

O’Donnell says that the deal came through after she yakked on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show earlier this year.

“He’s been very encouraging,” O’Donnell, 47, said about the shock jock, the Associated Press reports. “After I did his show, they called and asked if I was interested. I don’t really listen to radio, so I started thinking about it and listening. I asked if they could possibly do it at my house because that would really make it convenient for me with four kids, and they said yes, so I was like, ‘Wow. Let’s try that.’ ”

Essentially off the air as far as a regular gig was concerned after her headline-making departure from ABC’s The View in 2007, O’Donnell will host her new show from a recording facility currently under construction inside the guesthouse on the New York property she shares with partner Kelli Carpenter and their four children.

A Call-In Show
“I think it’ll be good for me,” O’Donnell says of the new venture. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve had seven years of early retirement. All my kids are in school now, so all day long I have nothing to do. This was the first year that they were all in school all day, and I found myself very bored. I was saying to Kelli, we either need to get another kid or I’ll have to go back to work.”

Once it starts up in the fall, Rosie Radio will air Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET (7 a.m. to 9:00 a.m, PT) on SIRIUS XM Stars, SIRIUS channel 102 and XM channel 155.

Sirius is already home to Oprah Radio, Martha Stewart Living Radio and O’Donnell’s former View mentor and tormentor, Barbara Walters. And, yes, Rosie will take phonecalls.