Rosie O’Donnell It was opened up about the incredible bond she formed with convicted murderer Lyle Menendez.
Lyle, 57, and her younger brother, Eric Menedes, 54, are currently in prison in San Diego and are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted in 1996 for murdering her parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menenedes.
During an interview with New York Times Published Saturday, O’Donnell, 63, shared details about his friendship with Lyle and how they’ve been communicating while he was behind the bar.
“He started calling me regularly from the tablet phones they had,” she said. “He told me about his life, what he does in prison, and for the first time in my life I felt safe enough to trust, be vulnerable and love a straight man.”
Rosie O’Donnell detailed the incredible relationship he developed alongside convicted murderer Lyle Menendez. (Getty)
While talking to the New York Times, O’Donnell shared that his relationship with Lyle began Menendez brothers Trial in 1996.
Lyle and Eric’s defense attorneys allege that their brothers killed Jose and Kitty in self-defense after suffering from abuse and abuse by their parents.
O’Donnell recalls appearing in the 1996 episode of “Rally King Live,” where she says she believes in her brother’s defense.
Lyle and Eric’s defense attorneys allege that their brothers killed Jose and Kitty in self-defense after suffering from abuse and abuse by their parents. (Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images)
Former talk show host He told NYT that after an interview about “Larry King Live,” Lyle sent her a letter. In the letter, Lyle “affirmed her support and stated his belief from a personal location that he “knowed” what he was saying was true.”
O’Donnell told NYT it was her own personal experience that led her to believe the Menendez brothers, claiming that “she and her brother were abused by her father.”
However, O’Donnell said he never responded to Lyle’s letter.
Rosie O’Donnell reveals that her father sexually abused her: “It started to be very young.”
“At that point, I hadn’t ventured near this with my family or my treatment,” she told NYT.
O’Donnell recalled that Lyle contacted her after appearing on “Rally King Live” in 1996. (AP Photo/Nick UT)
A few years later, O’Donnell and Lyle After watching a 2022 documentary with new evidence in support of the Menendez brothers’ story, we reconnected.
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O’Donnell discussed the incident in a video of Tiktok, where she once again defended her brother. Lyle’s wife Rebecca Snead then contacted her and said, “See if she’s interested in talking to him.”
Lyle and O’Donnell then got their first call, but the comedian has been in regular contact ever since, saying it “had lasted for two or three hours.”
O’Donnell said Lyle was the first “straight man” to feel “love” and “safe enough to trust.” (Getty)
O’Donnell admitted that some of her friends had “expressed concerns” about her unlikely relationship with Lyle.
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She told NYT she “shrugged” when her friend told her. Lyle in prison.
During her visit, Lyle informed her about a program that helps him and his fellow prison prison inmates train and place dogs along with blind, disabled veterans and children diagnosed with autism.
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At Lyle’s suggestion, O’Donnell decides to keep a dog through the program for his 12-year-old son Clay, who has autism. Before she “commuted two weeks a day to prison,” she took home a Labrador mix called Bear, which she had been trained at prisoner’s workplace for armed robbers.
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“I quickly noticed the difference in clay,” she told NYT. “I was shocked to learn that everything I heard from other mothers of children with autism was true.”
This experience has influenced O’Donnell’s filming documentary This will debut on Hulu on April 22 for the program entitled “Free Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Autism.”
