Rosie O'Donnell accused of 'outing' gay singer Clay Aiken on The View as he reveals: 'I died inside'

Rosie O'Donnell was accused of 'outing' gay singer Clay Aiken on The View as he reflected on the awkward moment. 

The singer, 41, said he experienced 'the most catastrophic week' of his life nearly two decades ago when he experienced back-to-back, uncomfortable situations on two talk shows.

He said first it was Kelly Ripa on one; then, he was inadvertently outed by O'Donnell on a separate talk show, both in November 2006.

While making an appearance on Page Six Radio on Thursday, he discussed an awkward interaction on Live with Regis and Kelly.

He recalled how he playfully put his hand over Ripa's mouth at one point, to which she quipped: 'I don't know where that hand's been, honey.'

Earlier this summer, he also addressed the controversial moment when he covered Ripa's mouth to stop her from speaking and said he intended the stunt to be 'incredibly innocent.' 

He said the moment led to the other incident on The View with O'Donnell, who was cohosting at the time.

Aiken, who finished second place on season two of American Idol in 2003, recalled how he was asleep in bed when a friend told him that Ripa and O'Donnell were debating on live television and O'Donnell had 'outed' him on live television.

On The View, O'Donnell brought up Ripa's comment and referred to it as 'homophobic.' Just moments later on the show, Ripa phoned into The View and vehemently denied O'Donnell's criticism. 

'I didn't realize that Rosie O'Donnell defended you so fiercely,' host Evan Real said during Aiken's most recent podcast appearance. 

'You say defended, I say outed,' Aiken said as he corrected him. 

The host proceeded to apologize for not knowing the full context, to which Aiken said: 'I died inside a lot that week.' 

Aiken recalled how his longtime close friend Jaymes Foster, with whom Aiken welcomed a son in 2008, told him that O'Donnell 'outed' him. 

'You need to wake up because Rosie just outed you on The View,' he recalled her telling him. 'I woke up. I was freaked out.' 

Aiken, who said he is still friends with O'Donnell, said he understood she didn't mean any harm.

'I don't have any ill feelings against Rosie. She did mean well,' he acknowledged. 'Her words were, I think, chosen in the heat of like, 'Why the hell is this girl on live TV with me right now?' And so she was caught off guard.' 

Daily Mail has reached out to reps for O'Donnell for comment, but has yet to hear back. 

Aiken said that same night, he was set to take the stage at the American Music Awards to introduce John Mayer's performance. 

He recalled how he was getting ready to get onstage alongside Tori Spelling onstage when the 'gracious' actress suggested they 'do something funny' to diffuse the situation. 

While Aiken was listing off Mayer's accomplishments, Spelling put her hand over his mouth and quipped: 'And I'll tell you where that hand's been later.'  

Earlier this year in June, Aiken talked about guest cohosting with Ripa on her talk show while Regis Philbin, who died at the age 88 in 2020, was away.

He defended the moment he put his hand over Ripa's mouth and insisted he meant it as an 'incredibly innocent' act. 

Back when the moment occurred, Ripa herself called it 'disrespectful' to try to cover her mouth while she was conducting an interview.

A week after he guest cohosted with her, Ripa called out the moment, telling People: 'There was a lack of respect, and when you're a certain person, you're in the public eye, you have to be respectful of other people. 

'And I don't think that he was respectful in any way. If that upsets his fans, I'm sorry to hear that, but you don't put your hands over somebody's face and mouth when they're conducting an interview, even if it's for a laugh. And that's all I'm gonna say.' 

When Ripa called in to The View to address O'Donnell's remark about Ripa being 'homophobic,' she said she was upset because 'it's cold and flu season.' 

In defense of herself, Ripa told O'Donnell: 'I have three kids. He's shaking hands with everybody in the audience. I mean, it's cold and flu season. That's what I meant. 

'To imply that it's anything homophobic is outrageous, Rosie, and you know better. You should be more responsible.' 

Aiken said while he is still friends with O'Donnell but has not talked to Ripa since then even though they crossed paths on a number of occasions. 

'I was not out at the time. I was to Rosie … I was out to people who I knew, but I wasn't publicly out about it. I was not out to my grandparents and the people in my family,' he explained. 

'And not only does Rosie call it a homophobic remark — which I think she accidentally said, and then she tried to walk it back a little bit — but then Kelly calls in live to The View that day and they get in an argument over it,' he added.

'Not only did she out me, but they had a big argument about whether I was gay and who talked about me being gay.'

Aiken did not come out publicly until two more years later in a September 2008 People cover story.