Rosie: Jay Leno Should Step Aside

O’Donnell declares her allegiance to Team Conan.

Rosie O’Donnell has come out… in favor of Team Conan.

At HBO’s TV Critics Assn. press tour Thursday, O’Donnell took a swipe at Jay Leno without ever mentioning him by name.

Describing "The Tonight Show" as a 60-year franchise that belongs to no one person, the former daytime diva said that anyone privileged enough to be able to "drive the bus" for 17 years should be humble about stepping down when the network says it wants to make a change.

"When it’s time for them to hire a new driver… you should say, ‘Thank you’ and pass the baton to the new guy — the one with the red hair– without trying to flatten the tires of the new driver," O’Donnell said.

Her comments came in response to a question about whether she’d want to jump into the late night arena.

"It’s kind of like if you asked me if I wanted to vacation in Haiti right now," O’Donnell said. "I’m sure it’s very nice, but now is not the right time."

The blunt former talk show host is a former stand-up comic who’s no doubt no stranger to both Leno and Conan O’Brien. She’s also no stranger to public squabbles, most famously going to war with Donald Trump. 

Comments