Rosie O’Donnell is no lady — and I suddenly remembered why that didn’t come as a surprise

Today’s news — if you can call it news — is that Rosie O’Donnell, is not only to the left of Left politically, she’s no lady when it comes to her day-to-day interactions with people, especially people in subordinate positions:

Through all the changes [in the form of the just-cancelled The Rosie Show], some 30 employees from producers to writers had left because of budget cuts and possibly because of a boss who couldn’t decide what she wanted and frequently humiliated them in public. “It was such a fucking hellhole,” says one former staffer.

You can see the details here.

My first thought upon reading that was “Duh!  I already knew that.”  At which point I had to ask myself why I already knew that.  It isn’t just because Rosie’s a Leftist, although it is remarkable how often famous Leftists are prima donnas when it comes to the lumpen proletariat on their payrolls.  Nor is it because Rosie has an abrasive screen presence.  Performance is not always a reflection of personality, and it’s useful to remember that.

Nope.  I knew that Rosie was unpleasant because of some interesting gossip I heard sometime back in the 1990s.  An old friend of mine had a boyfriend.  This boyfriend had a sister.  And this sister was Rosie’s personal assistant.  Although I never heard details, I ferreted away in the back of my mind the fact that my friend, in talking about her boyfriend’s sister, mentioned that Rosie was a hellish employer.  So, when I heard twenty-five or so years later that working for Rosie lands one in a “f***ing hellhole,” my brain said “no surprise.  I already knew that.”

Character is destiny, right?