Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Selleck: Two Stars Clash on Gun Control Issue

Tom Selleck appeared on the Today show recently to promote his newest movie, "Crossfire Trail," which will air on TNT soon. O'Donnell appeared about an hour later to promote the new Broadway show "Seussical," in which she plays the Cat in the Hat, but by that time Selleck had already departed, ostensibly to avoid another conflict.

Katie Couric, the Today show hostess, asked each of them questions about the other and even suggested that Selleck appear later with O'Donnell. Couric noted, "Rosie O'Donnell is going to be on later. I wondered if you wanted to stick around." Selleck, in his typically sly manner, replied, "Will you give her my love?"

Couric went on lightly teasing Selleck by saying, "You could chat about the NRA." To which Selleck again replied in the negative. "No. No, I don't think so. Rosie might, though." That brief light-hearted exchange was in reference to an incident that occurred in 1999, when Selleck was on O'Donnell's show to plug his movie "The Love Letter." Rosie apparently took issue with Selleck's appearing in an advertisement for the National Rifle Association and what was supposed to by a brief conversation on the issue turned into a full blown argument.

During the show, O'Donnell accused Selleck of attacking her during his explanation of the second amendment, saying that he called her "stupid" and "absurd." When asked on the Today show if she regretted the earlier exchange, O'Donnell replied, "I think we regretted the way it came out. And you know, he was really demonized by the anti-gun people in a way that he never should have been."