Rosie O'Donnell Clarifies Her Love for Tom Cruise—Just Not “in Bed”
Rosie O’Donnell’s top gun is still Tom Cruise—just not in a sexual way.
Indeed, the former talk show host—who publicly came out as a lesbian in 2002—reflected on how she can still be moved by the sexiness of a man, like she recently was while watching Luke Evans in The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway.
“Makes a girl think—gay girl, too,” O’Donnell quipped on the Aug. 11 episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast. “I was like, ‘I don't know what your deal is, sir, but come over near me and let me smell you.”
The 64-year-old added, “I don't want you naked in my bed—I'm not interested in the downtown mechanics—but I would like you to maybe have lunch with me and get me a lemonade.”
For her part, Poehler agreed, noting that attraction can prompt questions like, “Do I want to kiss them? Do I want to be them? [Or] do I want to get their approval?”
Plus, the Saturday Night Live alum emphasized her point by pointing out O’Donnell’s public obsession with the Mission: Impossible star in the ‘90s was never sexual, which O’Donnell agreed with.
“I often said, ‘I don’t want him in bed. I want him to mow my lawn and bring me an iced tea,’” she continued. “I didn’t know how much clearer I could be.”
O’Donnell added, “When I finally did come out and people were shocked, I was like, ‘How the hell are you shocked?’ And they’re like, ‘The Tom Cruise thing.’ I’m like, ‘How much clearer did I have to be?’”
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After all, she clarified, “I could never leave the throngs of gay people out in the world, of which I am a member, and proud to be a member.”
After The Rosie O’Donnell Show premiered in 1996, Cruise played into O’Donnell’s love for him, appearing on an episode in December of that year where he gave her flowers and multiple kisses.
Since then, the A League of Their Own actress has kept in touch with Cruise, who she says has always treated her kindly.
“Every year, I think, 'What a classy guy he is that he has never forgotten my birthday,'” she said during a SiriusXM radio appearance in 2021. “A lot of people say to me, 'It's just his secretary.' But I don't believe that. I think he knows in early March, 'Oh, it's Rosie's birthday coming up.' And he sends me something every single year for 25 years.”
And as O’Donnell sees it, “I love Tom Cruise and I will always love Tom Cruise.”
To learn more about other celebrity friendships you might find surprising, keep reading…
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Jacob Elordi & Teyana Taylor
The actors became pals after they both secured a 2026 Oscars nomination. Since then, Teyana has affectionately referred to Jacob as her "awards-season bestie" and joked that they often find themselves going "mullet for mullet," bonding over their similar hairstyle.
“We're young, we're blessed, we're being celebrated—this is the time to be happy and to have fun with it," the Best Supporting Actress nominee told Time in an interview published Feb. 2026, "especially in a space that some people take so serious, and some people are cold, some people are robotic."
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Mindy Kaling & Reese Witherspoon
They have been friends for years and have worked together. The two starred together in A Wrinkle in Time, while Mindy also had a recurring role on The Morning Show. In addition, the latter is co-writing Legally Blonde 3.
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Ayesha Curry & Lindsay Lohan
The Food Network star and Mean Girls alum first became friends during a trip to Dubai years ago and have since grown closer. In fact, Ayesha and Stephen Curry were even named the godparents of Lindsay and husband Bader Shammas' son Laui.
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Adam Sandler & Timothée Chalamet
The two actors, who costarred in the 2014 film Men, Women & Children, reunited for an outdoor game of basketball in New York City in July 2023.
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Russell Crowe & RZA
The actor has worked with the Wu-Tang Clan rapper on several movies, including The Man with the Iron Fists, American Gangster and The Next Three Days. But their bond goes much deeper than that. "As friends, we talk," Crowe tells Fuse. "It is no effort for me to give a friend advice. Film has many gods and you have to understand, as a director, you will be required to please and appease them all."
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Michelle Dockery & Pippa Middleton
Before running into each other again at Wimbledon, the unlikely duo first crossed paths at the Downton Abbey set. "She actually came on-set with her brother, James, a few years ago," Dockery told E! News."They are good fans of the show."
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David Beckham & Snoop Dogg
When the "footballer" moved to L.A. and became a "soccer player," he befriended the rapper. Becks appeared on Snoop's reality show, the two played soccer and Snoop plays his new music for David first.
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Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart
The two former child actors have worked on two films, Twilight and The Runaways, but Dakota says their friendship isn't based on work, "When we're together, we're not talking about movie stuff."
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Paris Hilton & Britney Spears
The two hung out together in the aughts and maintained their friendship over the years.
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Nicki Minaj & Anna Wintour
The two have two very different approaches to fashion (has Anna ever been bedazzled?), but they bonded in the front row of an Oscar de la Renta show and Anna scored a name-drop in one of Nicki's raps.
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50 Cent & Bette Midler
Now this is one strange duet! Fiddy met Bette working for the charity New York Restoration Project, where she gushed, "He's one of the newest members of our tribe. He's really made my life worth living."
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Taylor Swift & Lena Dunham
Taylor is a self-proclaimed good girl. Lena isn't afraid to stir the pot. But they have a lot of mutual respect for each other and the Girls creator described T.Swift's show as the "most life-affirming thing I've experienced."
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Jennifer Lopez & Leah Remini
The former King of Queens actress has been supertight with Jenny From the Block for a while now, bonding over fashion and tweeting cutesy things at each other with the hashtag "#luckybesties."
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Gwyneth Paltrow & Jay-Z
The Goop goddess herself is actually friends with both Jay and his wife Beyoncé, though you might be more surprised to learn that Gwyn is an intense rap enthusiast and her kids even call Mr. Carter "Uncle Jay."
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Brad Pitt & Jonah Hill
You might not expect the hunky thespian to be close with the dude from Superbad, but look at it this way: Brad is a total prankster (says Jonah) and Jonah is now a serious Oscar nominee (for their film Moneyball).
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Eminem & Elton John
The controversial rapper joined forces with Sir Elton at the 2001 Grammys and later Em turned to his new friend for support getting sober: "I told him, 'Look, I'm going through a problem and I need your advice.'"
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