Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Article content
Rosie O’Donnell has opened up about the surprising relationship she has formed with convicted killer Lyle Menendez.
Article content
O’Donnell, 63, revealed in an interview with the New York Times published Saturday that the two became deeply close in 2022 — years after Lyle first reached out to her.
Lyle, 57, and his brother Erik Menendez, 54, are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after they were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, in 1989.
Attorneys for Lyle and Erik argued that the brothers killed in self-defence after suffering years of abuse and molestation by their parents.
The former talk show host recalled receiving a letter from Lyle, thanking her for her “support” after she appeared on Larry King Live in 1996 and she said she believed the brothers’ defence.
He acknowledged in the note that O’Donnell “knew from a personal place that what he was saying was true,” she told the Times.
The actress has claimed for years that she and her siblings had been molested by their father.
In a 2019 interview with Variety, O’Donnell alleged that the abuse began when she was ”very young,” and it’s ”not something I like to talk about.”
She said during the Times interview that she never responded to Menendez’s letter, explaining, “At that point, I had not ventured anywhere near this in my family or in my therapy.”
O’Donnell took to TikTok in 2022 when interest in the Menendez brothers’ case was revived on the social media platform, once again reiterating her belief that Lyle and Erik were victims of sexual abuse, resulting in their parents’ slayings.
Article content
“He started calling me on a regular basis from the tablet phone thing they have,” O’Donnell said, revealing they spoke for three hours.
“He would tell me about his life, what he’s been doing in prison, and, for the first time in my life, I felt safe enough to trust and be vulnerable and love a straight man.”
They have regularly stayed in touch since that first phone call, despite some of her friends who “expressed concern” about the gay comedian’s unlikely relationship with a murderer.
She told the Times she “shrugged” off her friends and visited Lyle in prison.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
During her visit, Lyle informed her about a program in which he and his fellow prison inmates help train and place dogs with blind, disabled veterans and children who have been diagnosed with autism, and suggested she adopt a dog for her 12-year-old son Clay, who is autistic.
Share this article in your social network
