Rosie O’Donnell feels like a “sister” to the Menendez brothers, Erik, Lyle

Rosie O’Donnell says she feels “like a big sister” to the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez.

In an interview with Variety published Friday, the former “The View” panelist talked about her friendship with Lyle Menendez and how she thinks the brothers will be released from state prison “sooner or later.”

“We talk a lot,” O’Donnell told Variety. “I told them I would do what I could to shed light on their story, taking advantage of their waning fame.”

The brothers are serving prison terms for the 1989 murders of José Hernandez and Mary Louise “Kitty” Hernandez in the family’s Beverly Hills home.

The Variety interview came a day after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office would review new evidence of alleged sexual abuse presented by the brothers’ lawyers.

The brothers have long maintained that the motive for their parents’ murder was sexual abuse.

Rosie O’Donnell claims Barbara Walters called Lyle Menendez ‘very cunning’ and ‘murderer’

The former daytime talk show host first heard about Lyle Menendez 30 years ago, but she didn’t support the famous older brother because O’Donnell claims “View” creator and TV legend Barbara Walters told her to ignore him.

Walters, who died in December 2022, famously interviewed the brothers for ABC.

But then O’Donnell “came in as a cheerleader two years ago” when the pair reconnected after the comedian watched a documentary that revisited the Menendez case and presented evidence that the brothers were molested by their father.

“I got a call from Lyle’s wife, I didn’t even know he had a wife, asking if I’d like to talk to him,” O’Donnell told Variety. “He called me last year on Mother’s Day,” adding that the brothers were “excited” about the potential release. She also said the Menendez brothers were “pleased” with calls for his release, after which she spoke to Lyle Menendez on Thursday evening.

“Then I told them, ‘You’re going to get out of there.’ They didn’t really believe me, but I believe that the wrong will be righted. They still don’t believe it’s going to happen,” O’Donnell told the outlet.

Rosie O’Donnell claims she visited the Menendez brothers in prison

In the interview, O’Donnell detailed her visit to Lyle Menendez last year at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the California prison near San Diego where both brothers are held.

“I saw Lyle and I hugged him,” she recalls of the comedian’s visit. “Then Erik came up to me, hugged me and whispered in my ear, ‘Thank you for loving my brother.’ It was very, very moving for me.”

Kim Kardashian: Free the Menendez brothers after the brutal murders of his parents in 1996

O’Donnell even hinted that she would be present at the pair’s potential release, saying she would be there. “Of course, if they wanted me there, but I don’t want to overshadow anything.” She told Variety that the brothers “will need a lot of therapy to figure out how to make their way in the world after 35 years in prison.

And the former “Rosie O’Donnell Show” host has a gift for Lyle Menendez if the brothers get out of prison: a meal at the popular Nobu restaurant, which boasts multiple locations across the country and the world.

“I always told Lyle I would take him to Nobu because he thought it was the right place,” O’Donnell told Variety.

She recalled telling Menendez, “Buddy, when you get out, I’ll take you to Nobu.” When I was talking to him one day, he asked, “When are we going to Nobu?” I said, “Sooner than you think.”

Contribution: Jonathan Limehouse