Editing Rosie O'Donnell (section)

==Other ventures==

===''Rosie'' magazine===
{{main|1 = McCall's|l1 = ''McCall's''}}

In 2000, O'Donnell partnered with the publishers of ''[[McCall's]]'' to revamp the magazine as ''Rosie's McCall's'' (or, more commonly, ''Rosie'').<ref>{{cite news|last=Jacobson|first=Aileen|title=Tv Host O'donnell to Add Name to Venerable Mccall's Magazine|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-11-18/lifestyle/0011170650_1_jahr-usa-namesake-magazine-rosie-o-donnell|access-date=February 18, 2014|newspaper=[[Sun-Sentinel]]|date=November 18, 2000|archive-date=February 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222045941/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-11-18/lifestyle/0011170650_1_jahr-usa-namesake-magazine-rosie-o-donnell|url-status=dead}}</ref> The magazine was launched as a competitor to fellow talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey's monthly magazine ''[[O, The Oprah Magazine|O]]''. ''Rosie'' covered issues including breast cancer, foster care, and other matters of concern to O'Donnell. In the September 2000 issue, she shared that "she has struggled with depression her entire life" and decided to start medications when she realized her fears were affecting her family.<ref>{{cite news |title=How Rosie O'Donnell Beat Depression |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Depression/story?id=126783 |access-date=2024-05-09 |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=2006-08-04}}</ref> With a strong start and a circulation close to 3.5&nbsp;million, things looked promising, but the magazine stumbled as conflicts emerged between O'Donnell and the editors.<ref>{{cite news|last=Carr|first=David|title=O'Donnell and Her Publisher Are in Clash Over Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/business/media/23MAG.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=March 7, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 23, 2002}}</ref> The contract gave O'Donnell control over editorial process and editorial staff but veto power remained with publisher Gruner+Jahr USA.<ref name="MagWar">{{cite news|last=Offman|first=Craig|title=O'Donnell countersues in mag war|url=https://variety.com/2002/biz/news/o-donnell-countersues-in-mag-war-1117874695/|access-date=March 7, 2014|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 21, 2002}}</ref> O'Donnell quit the magazine in September 2002, following a dispute over editorial control.<ref name="MagWar"/> "If I'm going to have my name and my brand on the corner of a magazine, it has to be my vision" she told ''People''.<ref name="PeopleBio2">{{cite web|last=Wang|first=Julia|title=Rosie O'Donnell Biography|url=http://www.people.com/people/rosie_odonnell/biography/0,,20033874_10,00.html|work=People|access-date=February 19, 2014|archive-date=January 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101135603/http://www.people.com/people/rosie_odonnell/biography/0,,20033874_10,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Rosie'' magazine folded in 2003. In late 2003, O'Donnell and the publishers each sued the other for [[breach of contract]]. The publishers said that, by removing herself from the magazine's publication, she was in breach of contract. The trial received considerable press coverage. O'Donnell would often give brief press interviews outside of the courtroom responding to various allegations. Of note was a former magazine colleague and breast cancer survivor who testified that O'Donnell said to her on the phone that people who lie "get sick and they get cancer. If they keep lying, they get it again".<ref>{{cite news |title=Cancer survivor says Rosie O'Donnell told her liars get cancer |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-11-05-rosie-suit_x.htm |access-date=February 18, 2014 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=November 5, 2003 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> O'Donnell apologized the next day and stated, "I'm sorry I hurt her the way I did, that was not my intention." The judge, [[Ira Gammerman (judge)|Ira Gammerman]] of the [[New York Supreme Court|New York Supreme Court in Manhattan]], dismissed the case, ruling that neither side should receive [[damages]].<ref name="Prono2008">{{cite book |last=Prono |first=Luca |title=Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture |year=2008 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=9780313335990 |page=205}}{{tertiary source inline|date=May 2024}}</ref>

===Books===
In 1997, Rosie released the children's book ''Kids are Punny: Jokes Sent by Kids to the Rosie O'Donnell Show'', which contained jokes she had received from children. A sequel titled ''Kids are Punny 2: More Jokes Sent by Kids to the Rosie O'Donnell Show'' was released a year later in 1998, and an [[HBO]] special was made based on the books. In April 2002, O'Donnell released ''Find Me,'' a combination of memoir, mystery and detective story with an underlying interest in reuniting birth mothers with their children.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuczynski|first=Alex|title=She's Out of the Closet. Now What?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/03/style/she-s-out-of-the-closet-now-what.html|access-date=February 18, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 3, 2002}}</ref> In addition to cataloging her childhood and early adulthood, the book delved into O'Donnell's relationship with a woman with [[dissociative identity disorder]] who posed as an underage teen who had become pregnant by rape. The book reached number two on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list.

In October 2007, she released ''[[Celebrity Detox]]'', her second memoir which focuses on the struggles with leaving fame behind, noting her exits from ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' and ''The View''.

===R Family Vacations===
In 2003, O'Donnell and Carpenter partnered with travel entrepreneur Gregg Kaminsky to launch [[R Family Vacations]] catering to LGBT families, "the very first all gay and lesbian family vacation packages" where "gays and lesbians can bring their kids, their friends, and their parents."<ref name="Kaminsky">{{cite web|last=Kaminsky|first=Gregg|title=Rosie O'Donnell Announces R Family Vacations|publisher=Out in Buffalo|date=August 11, 2003|url=http://www.outinbuffalo.com/home/news.asp?articleid=4916|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030929064549/http://www.outinbuffalo.com/home/news.asp?articleid=4916|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 29, 2003|access-date=June 21, 2007}}</ref> Although O'Donnell is not involved on a day-to-day basis, she does contribute to the creative aspects of "advertising and marketing materials" and initiated the idea for the company when she filled in as a last-minute replacement headliner on one of Kaminsky's [[Atlantis Events]] gay cruises and also came up with the name "R Family Vacations".<ref name="Salvato">{{cite web|last=Salvato |first=Ed |title=R Family Vacations plies uncharted gay waters |publisher=[[Planet Out]] |url=http://www.planetout.com/travel/article.html?sernum=9101 |access-date=June 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508152020/http://www.planetout.com/travel/article.html?sernum=9101 |archive-date=May 8, 2006 }}</ref> On July 11, 2004, the first cruise was held with 1600 passengers<ref name="Planet Out">{{cite web|title=Q and A with Rosie and Kelli on "All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise" |publisher=[[Planet Out]] |year=2006 |url=http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=1227 |access-date=June 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526042807/http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=1227 |archive-date=May 26, 2006 }}</ref> including 600 children.<ref name="Davis">{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Andrew|title=Getting Away with R Family Vacations|newspaper=[[Windy City Times]]|date=January 12, 2005|url=http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=7108|access-date=June 21, 2007|archive-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402161139/http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=7108|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition to traditional entertainment and recreational activities, the company partnered with [[Provincetown]]'s [[Family Equality Council|Family Pride]], a 25-year-old Washington, D.C.–based organization that advocates for [[LGBT parenting|LGBT families]]<ref name="Williams">{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Bradley David|title=Families, Ahoy!|work=Out Smart Magazine|date=May 2004|url=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/issue/i05-04/f-2-Families_Ahoy.php|access-date=June 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808173903/http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/issue/i05-04/f-2-Families_Ahoy.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=August 8, 2007}}</ref> to host discussions on "[[adoption]], [[insemination]], [[surrogacy]], and everything else that would be helpful to [[gay parenting]]."<ref name="Wieder">{{cite web|last=Wieder|first=Judy|title=R We Ready for R Family Vacations?|publisher=Out Traveler|year=2003|url=http://www.outtraveler.com/detail.asp?did=233|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208124533/http://www.outtraveler.com/detail.asp?did=233|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 8, 2006|access-date=June 21, 2007}} (Fall issue)</ref> ''[[All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise]]'', a documentary film about the trip debuted on HBO on April 6, 2006, and was nominated for three Emmy Awards. Of the experience, O'Donnell stated "we didn't really realize the magic that was going to take place. People who had never met another gay family met other families and it was powerful."<ref name=Davis/>

=== ''Taboo'' ===
In late 2003, O'Donnell brought the musical ''[[Taboo (musical)|Taboo]]'' to Broadway. She hired [[Charles Busch]] to re-write the [[Book (musical theatre)|book]], and the story became "bitchier" and more focused on the rise to fame of the character based on [[Boy George]].<ref name="Miller2011">{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Scott|title=Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and Musicals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkPAYsbhHMUC&pg=PT405|access-date=January 1, 2013|date=October 11, 2011|publisher=UPNE|page=405}}</ref> It closed on February 8, 2004, after about 100 performances and "mostly bad" reviews.<ref name="Shirley2004">{{cite news|last=Shirley|first=Don|title=A $10-million Broadway flop for O'Donnell|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-15-wk-quick15-story.html|access-date=March 8, 2014|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 15, 2004}}</ref> O'Donnell described the show's production as "by far the most fulfilling experience of my career".<ref name="Shirley2004"/> She has stated that she intends to bring the show back to Broadway, although Scott Miller writes that people are hesitant to get involved after the "train wreck" of the original production.<ref name="Miller2011"/>