Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Rosie O'Donnell is Out and Proud of It

Aired March 08, 2002 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Rosie O'Donnell is out, and as she herself might say, it's no biggie, she's gay, she's proud of it. And in the new issue of "People" magazine, Rosie's friends are going public for the first time about her private life.

And, Cynthia Sands, the senior editor for "People" joins us now.

Good to see you.

CYNTHIA SANDS, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

ZAHN: This has to be the longest outing in the history of television ever. It is interesting, though, because in your piece, I think through I don't recall interviews with her friends in her life, you shed some new light on all of this. Tell us what her best friend, Jackie Ellard told news this piece, of course who had better context about the announcement of the fact that Rosie is gay?

What did she tell you?

SANDS: Well Jackie has known for more than 20 years. Rosie had come out to her when they were both freshmen in college. And she said it was really very interesting to them when Barbara Walters said Rosie's gay on television. She kind of jokingly went into here office and said, "Rosie, you're gay?" And they kind of both laughed about it. Oh, didn't I tell you, I forgot.

ZAHN: So she's never tried to hide it, and yet obviously because of her television program is funded by all kinds of advertising companies, she was concerned, was she not, about what impact this might have on her career?

SANDS: Well, she had definitely never hid it to her family or her friends. She and her girlfriend would go to events, they would go to parties together, they would have people over to the house, but she just never mentioned it on the show. She said she didn't feel it was relevant, but you know, certainly there had to be some consideration that it might affect advertisers.

ZAHN: You spent time with Rosie's partner Kelly. Let's get this relationship correct, the stepsister, her name is Heidi Safer (ph). She also had some interesting things to say about Rosie and the raising of her children. Fill us in on that part of the conversation. SANDS: Well, they really are raising them as a family, the three kids. Kelly is sort of a stay-at-home mom to them. And Rosie has just become a part of the Carpenter family as well. They've been together for four and a half years now, and they really are just a family.

ZAHN: Did Heidi tell you anything about the struggle of doing that? Have they encountered discrimination as a result of that, or are people pretty much leaving them alone?

SANDS: People have left them loan. They live in the New York area, and people are just fine with the concept.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit more about how committed Rosie is to trying to make sure that a state law in Florida that bans gays from adopting is changed. How far is she willing to go on this issue?

SANDS: She's come a long way already. Obviously, this was the reason that she felt it relevant to come out and say, yes, she is gay, because she's adopted three children in New York State, where it is legal, and she feels that gay parents or gay people ought to be able to become parents, ought to be able to adopt children, and that's not the case in Florida.

ZAHN: Is there a possibility, too, that she might want to adopt more children, and this obviously would affect her ability to do so in Florida?

SANDS: Absolutely. She has a house in Florida, and currently she would be unable to adopt a child there.

ZAHN: Any way of telling now that -- Barbara Walters announced this on her show. You've got the big interview coming up in March in advance of the publication of the book, what ultimately this will mean to Rosie financially.

SANDS: It is a little hard to tell. She's wrapping up her show in May anyway. So there isn't an issue of whether the show will be picked up again next year. But so far, people don't seem to have been making a big deal of it. Rosie been playing it down. It's not a big deal to her, so it's not a big deal to her fans.

ZAHN: You know, I remember she performed at a comedy club here in New York, and she's saying, I don't know why this gay thing is such a big deal, let's go over it. What else do you think readers should know about Rosie and her new book that's about to come out?

SANDS: The book has been billed as a memoir, but it's really about her relationship about this one woman who had begun writing to her, and the word "gay" never even comes up to the book. She sort of eludes in passing to relationships she's had in the past with man or a woman and with her relationship with Kelly now, but it's really not a big part of the book.

ZAHN: So could one argue that the coming out, even though she's privately acknowledged it for years, is going to ultimately help sell books. I mean, it is interesting that she confirmed to Barbara Walters in a phone conversation -- Barbara dropped in on the show in advance of this sit-down interview that comes next week.

SANDS: It's probably not a coincidence that the book is coming out next month, and that she would choose to do it now. But I think the end of her show is probably a bigger reason, because she doesn't have as much at stake right now. She doesn't have to worry about advertisers and viewers.

ZAHN: Cynthia Sands, thanks for giving us a preview of next week's "People" magazine.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com