Rosie O'Donnell's Talk Show Special Raised Half a Million Dollars for the Actors Fund Amid Pandemic

Talk Show host, Rosie O'Donnell raised $500,000 in a coronavirus fundraiser held on the comeback of her eponymous talk show.

"The Rosie O'Donnell Show" came to an end eighteen years ago. However, on Sunday, the Talk Show host, Rosie O'Donnell, brought back the show to raise money for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a tweet on Monday, Rosie revealed that the show was able to raise half a million dollars for the Actors Fund. The Actors Fund is an organization that provides several services for people in the performing arts and entertainment industry.

The show, which lasted for three and a half hours, was streamed live on Broadway.com and the website's Youtube Channel. She opened the show by stating she was filming from her garage turned art studio in New Jersey. She then introduced her former musical director John McDaniel.

She also admitted that she didn't want to talk about the United States President, Donald Trump because she wanted to focus on helping people get through the ongoing pandemic. She assured people by stating that she was confident they would all get through it.

The show had a long list of star appearances, which included Sarah Jessica Parker, Jordin Sparks, David Foster, and Miranda Sings, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, among others.

Rosie's first guest was Ferguson, who recalled his appearance on her talk show in 1998 to promote his first Broadway show, "On the Town."

During the three hour show, guests performed songs and granted interviews to help raise money for those in the performing arts who have had to cancel shows due to the pandemic.

The show recorded a lot of memorable moments, one of which was Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" in a bathtub. The singer was clad in a bathing suit worthy of a 70's Bond girl. At the end of the performance, Tina whipped out a tiny toy saxophone to wrap it up.

According to Variety, Rosie was part of the celebrities who donated towards the cause. She was reported to have given a sum of $100,000 out of the $500,000, which was realized.

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, shows across the country and the world at large have been affected. Earlier this month, several television programs suspended the presence of live studio audiences in their studios.

Broadway also announced the suspension of all performances till the coronavirus pandemic is contained. Film studios across the country also suspended movie releases.

We at AmoMama do our best to give you the most updated news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, but the situation is constantly changing. We encourage readers to refer to the online updates from CDC, WHO, or Local Health Departments to stay updated. Take care!