Rosie O'Donnell talks strained Ellen DeGeneres relationship, changing 'The View'

Rosie O'Donnell's career on television has been filled with ups and downs.

The comedian, 61, was one of the first openly lesbian women on television and ushered the path for Ellen DeGeneres' stardom.

In a profile with The Hollywood Reporter published Thursday, O'Donnell opened up about how her relationship shifted with DeGeneres over the years and pushing to include political discussions during her time as co-host on "The View."

DeGeneres teased coming out when she appeared on "The Rosie O'Donnell" show in 1996 amid rumors about her sexuality. The two comedians did a bit where they joked that DeGeneres' character on the sitcom "Ellen" was revealing she is "Lebanese." O'Donnell joked that she also believed she was Lebanese (although she didn't come out until 2002), to which DeGeneres quipped: "Half of Hollywood is Lebanese."

"It was a good relationship. We were friends. We supported each other. Which is why when she came on my show, I said, 'Let me not have you standing there by yourself. Let's get a joke in there,'" O'Donnell recalled.

Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres' relationship become frayed after the 'Ellen' star came out

Their relationship took a turn after DeGeneres officially came out on the cover of Time in 1997, O'Donnell said.

"It became a strange, 'There can’t be two lesbians in this town,' kind of a thing. Then we each had success and went separate ways," the former co-host of "The View" added. "We've had our weirdness in our relationship. I don’t know if it's jealousy, competition or the fact that she said a mean thing about me once that really hurt my feelings."

DeGeneres had said she didn't know O'Donnell, adding, "We're not friends," during a 2004 episode of "Larry King Live," according to O'Donnell. DeGeneres has since apologized, O'Donnell told THR.

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"When it was a downward media time for me, (Ellen) didn’t do anything," said O'Donnell, who felt ostracized after coming out. "She used the same staff from my show – Jim Paratore, Andy Lassner. So that was odd. It was very similar to my show. And then I asked to go on because of something I was promoting, and she said no."

O'Donnell hosted her own talk show from 1996 to 2002.

Rosie O'Donnell says she pushed to add political discussion to 'The View'

In 2005, she joined "The View" as co-host alongside co-creator Barbara Walters.

The "The L Word: Generation Q" actress credited herself for changing the focus of the show to be more political between the other female co-hosts.

"I was definitely the one who did it, yes, because ('The View' co-creator) Bill Geddie really did not enjoy my political views," O'Donnell said. "But we would be on and there would be some major news story of a bombing in Iraq or a platoon killed, and they would want you to do the new lipstick shades for segment six."

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She recalled asking him, "Do you think that women are so dumb that all they want to talk about is thinner thighs in 30 days? Or what’s on sale?"

"The show needed to change because it was a show created by a woman with hosts who were women, run by men. And it didn't work," O'Donnell added.

She left "The View" in 2016.

Rosie O'Donnell says she likes 'being a single parent'

Since then, O'Donnell has lived a quieter life, appearing on the occasional television show and parenting her 10-year-old adopted daughter Dakota.

O'Donnell "adopted her with a woman named Michelle (Rounds) who had cancer and got addicted to meds and then took her own life," she told THR. The couple divorced before their daughter was 2 years old.

"I kind of like being a single parent," the comedian and actress noted. "I like being able to make the decisions for her and not have to negotiate with someone else about what they think is right."

O'Donnell added: "Co-parenting is hard. Mind you, I have help and I'm a wealthy person, so this has to be filtered through that lens."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rosie O'Donnell on 'strange' Ellen DeGeneres relationship, 'The View'