Rosie O’Donnell claims famous Hollywood icon told her to 'lose 20 pounds'
Rosie O'Donnell has revealed that late director Penny Marshall once told her to lose weight while filming A League of Their Own, a comment she says stuck with her for decades.
The 64-year-old comedian and former talk show host made the claim while discussing her recent 60-pound weight loss in an interview with People.
"On 'League of Their Own,' Penny Marshall didn't help by saying, 'Rosie, I want you to lose 20 pounds,'" O'Donnell recalled. "I'm like, 'You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?'"
O'Donnell said she began taking Mounjaro in 2023 to treat her Type 2 diabetes, and has since lost significant weight while noting she is now 'the same weight' she was during filming of the 1992 baseball comedy.
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"It's very strange to just buy a pair of jeans that fit," she said. "When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn't my set, it was, did I look fat?"
Despite returning to a similar size, O'Donnell said her outlook on her body has shifted considerably since her time on the film.
"When I look back, I go, 'God, I wish I could have enjoyed the size I was,'" she said, adding that she now feels "much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality."
What did Rosie O'Donnell say about Penny Marshall?
While the comment about her weight was blunt, O'Donnell has also spoken warmly about Marshall's broader legacy, describing her in a January appearance on the podcast We Can Do Hard Things as someone who quietly shaped attitudes toward women in sports.
"She was kind of a closeted feminist in some ways," O'Donnell said. "She didn't necessarily want to have the banner, but she really supported women and women's sports and women athletes in a way like no one else that I had met."
O'Donnell said Marshall "made a profound impact on women's sports in the history of the United States because of that movie," referring to the film's lasting cultural footprint decades after its release.
She also reflected on how deeply her character, Doris Murphy, has stayed in the public consciousness, recalling children showing up to her door dressed as the character during Halloween.
"I mean, I see little kids coming to my door dressed as me, and they don't know," she said.
Marshall died in December 2018 at the age of 75 from complications related to heart disease and diabetes.
Thomas Bamford