Rosie O'Donnell 'surprised' by being tapped to guest host for Kimmel, but eager for anti-Trump platform

Liberal comedian Rosie O’Donnell said that she was surprised to be tapped to guest-host Jimmy Kimmel’s show, but said she was thankful to be filling in for the ABC late-night host known for his hostility to President Donald Trump .

O’Donnell, former host of "The Rosie O’Donnell Show" and "The View," began serving as a guest host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Monday night and will continue through Thursday.

She revealed to Variety that she was initially surprised by the move after she and Kimmel had an "adversarial relationship" in the past.

"We’ve never spoken on the phone; we’ve texted a few times.

Howard Stern tried to make amends with us, so we’ve been at the same parties a few times and I would talk to his wife.

But Jimmy was never a fan of mine, and it was kind of an adversarial relationship — not that I was fighting back, but I was like, ‘OK, one of the bro guys…,’" O’Donnell recalled.

However, after the death of Kimmel's uncle, Frank Potenza, O'Donnell reached out to him and they became more friendly.

JIMMY KIMMEL REVEALS HE ASKED MAJOR TRUMP CRITIC TO GUEST HOST WHILE HE'S ON VACATION AS A 'SPECIAL TREAT' "When everything happened with his uncle dying, I wrote him and he wrote back.

So, when my publicist called and said, ‘Do you want to guest-host ‘Kimmel’ for a week?’ I said, ‘I haven’t ever even been a guest!’ And then I said, ‘If you’re positive that that’s an actual offer, and he wants me to do it, then I most certainly will,’" she told Variety.

"I was surprised, to tell you the truth, and very thankful." One key aspect that motivated her to guest host was the opportunity to criticize Trump and support Kimmel in his feud with his administration.

ABC temporarily suspended Kimmel's show last year after he made controversial comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk .

"I support [Kimmel] in what he’s doing with the First Amendment, and our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government that’s enshrined in the Founding Fathers’ writings about our government, so I think he’s fantastic," O’Donnell said.

"And I wish that Stephen Colbert had the same kind of support when it happened to him, because he shouldn’t be gone either." On her first night filling in for Kimmel on Monday, O'Donnell used the platform to repeatedly bash Trump , even addressing the president directly during the show.

BOB IGER BREAKS SILENCE ON DISNEY'S SUSPENSION OF JIMMY KIMMEL OVER CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION COMMENTS In her Variety interview, O’Donnell worried that much of the media was in crisis as Paramount pursues its acquisition of Warner Bros.