Rosie on becoming friends with Madonna at the height of her fame: “She had lost her humanity”

To be cast in a movie [‘A League of Their Own’] opposite the most famous woman in the world as the best friend — right, me and Madonna? That was like a life-altering casting session for me because it changed my whole world.

That kind of fame is once a generation, you know? That kind of Elvis, the Beatles, Madonna. And to be that close to it for so long and be able to get an opinion of what it does to the human being through being that close to, you know, Madonna.

I thought that I wanted [that kind of fame], but I thought, ‘Look at how much it takes away from her.’ We were in an elevator, and people would say to her face, ‘I like you better with blonde hair,’ because in ‘League’ she had dyed her hair brown. And she’d be like, ‘Yeah, f— you.’ You know?

I realized how many people felt that they had the right to say whatever they wanted to her, that she had lost her humanity in the eyes of the public from being too famous. And it was like a cautionary tale in a way. Not that I ever thought I would achieve that level of fame, but that any level of fame could be as toxic and demanding.

Rosie O’Donnell speaking to David Duchovny’s ‘Fail Better’ podcast about how her close friendship with Madonna changed her idea of fame.