Rosie O’Donnell rings alarm bells ahead of TikTok sale: “Things are gonna change”

Last January, news of a TikTok ban and forced sale loomed over the heads of American creators. The ban never came to fruition (except for a few hours of stagey downtime) but this year, queer content creators and allies are facing a different threat: conform to Tr*mp’s politics, or be silenced.

From her new home in Ireland, Rosie O’Donnell checked in yesterday to tell viewers about the app’s threats to ban her from the platform. She also sounded some alarms over what users on the app can look forward to after TikTok gets sold “to a Tr*mper,” and it’s not looking good.

“I’m not yet banned,” she says, “but I haven’t really been talking about anything, especially not anything political, since they told me ‘one more and you’re out, kid.'”

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Even from the safety of Ireland, O’Donnell is still suffering from the effects of Tr*mp’s bullying, and once the app’s sale goes through later this month, she predicts it’s going to get even worse.

“This company was bought by one of the Tr*mpers,” she warns. “So I think things are gonna change in about a week or two.”

The new joint venture taking over operations includes Oracle, Larry Ellison’s AI company, which will be in charge of storing data on the app—something that should send a chill down all of our spines. O’Donnell, for her part, is preparing to lose the app that’s given her “joy and hope” in some of the darkest times we’ve seen recently.

“Maybe it doesn’t matter that they were gonna ban me,” she says, “because we were gonna have to leave anyway, like Twitter.”

X, formerly Twitter, was famously taken over in July of 2023 by tech turd Elon Musk, who transformed the once-thriving social media hub into an elephant graveyard of crypto bros, scammers, and pro-Tr*mp bots.

“I’m gonna miss it,” O’Donnell continues. “I’m gonna miss a lot of the people that I check in with on a daily basis.”

Since the start of the new year, trans creators have been warning about the app’s impending sale and what it will mean for censorship. Earlier this month, after the infamous Star Wars “jorking” video made the rounds, trans creator Alluring Skull pointed out the hypocrisy of the app allowing a video of someone “jorking their sh*t” to stay up, while making it impossible for content about trans facial feminization surgery to reach the For You page.

For trans creators on the app—as well as the many unemployed creators who have only been able to find revenue on TikTok—it’s not just the loss of another social media platform. It’s the loss of a lifeline and a way to connect with other people in an increasingly harsh political crackdown on endangered identities.

Threats of censorship crackdowns are fully in line with the administration’s attempt to label trans activists as “terrorists” under Pam Bondi’s insidious directive. Trans creators and allies on the app have reported receiving cease and desist letters from the FBI since the start of this year, as well as issues with passports.

O’Donnell saw the writing on the wall early, and made the move to Ireland last year, before Tr*mp took office for a second time. On TikTok, she shared her feelings about the transition, saying: “It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming. And I’m very grateful.”

But with the possible loss of TikTok, finding a way to connect with other Americans could prove a painful challenge. “I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home, and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country,” O’Donnell said last year. “And when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”

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