NEWSRosie Backs Meredith Baxter's Coming Out of the Closet
Dec. 4 2009, Published 7:55 a.m. ET
Meredith Baxter, memorable as the mom on Family Ties, bravely stepped out of the closet, revealing earlier this week on Today that she's a lesbian. And now another famous gay celebrity, Rosie O'Donnell, tells OK! she was right there to support her friend during the whole process. "I called her up and told her she was fantastic and congratulations and she did really well and that I was proud of her," Rosie reveals to OK!
"We had a little chat, and it was lovely, because I fell in love with her in 1972 with TV show Bridget Loves Bernie," Rosie recalled at the In Their Boots My Mom’s A Soldier documentary screening in NYC on Thursday. "An Irish and a Jewish — that was a big deal back then. It was too controversial for more than one season. And then I loved her on Family Ties. And I love her still. I think she’s great."
Rosie, who came out in 2002 during a comedy act at the Ovarian Cancer Research benefit at Caroline's Comedy Club, says she understands the pressure to reveal personal things yourself before someone else does it for you.
"I think it’s absurd and ridiculous," she says of the reports that a blog was going to out Meredith. "In today’s Internet era, it’s very impossible to have a private life stay private if you’re famous in any way."
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Reporting by Valerie Nome
