Rosie O’Donnell Blasts Jay Leno Over ‘The Biggest Loser’ Documentary

After watching Netflix’s recent docuseries Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, Rosie O’Donnell took to social media to share some thoughts, including calling out Jay Leno and series coach Bob Harper.

The three-part docuseries details the rise and fall of The Biggest Loser, the weight loss competition show that originally aired on NBC from 2004 to 2016, including the show’s various controversies and missteps, as well as the treatment contestants suffered both on and off screen.

Not only did contestants describe the hardships they faced on the show itself, but also the harassment they experienced as guests on late-night talk shows. In particular, Biggest Loser Season 2 contestant Tracey Yukich recalled the time she appeared on The Tonight Show and Leno read her death threats aloud to the audience.

 

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O’Donnell, who hosted her own daytime talk show between 1996 and 2002, where she gained the nickname “the Queen of Nice,” took to her Instagram page on Tuesday (August 19), sharing a screenshot of Yukich from the Netflix doc.

“Jay Leno is a mean a****** #biggestloserdocumentary,” she wrote in the post’s caption.

 

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In an earlier post, the A League of Their Own star called out Harper, who served as a trainer on The Biggest Loser. “Ok now bob harper – can u not say IM SORRY – seriously- so hurtful- so cruel – come on bob – #biggestLOSERdoc @netflixuk,” O’Donnell wrote alongside more screenshots from the docuseries.

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Harper is interviewed in the Netflix doc, where he said he had no regrets about his time on the show.

“Always remember we were trying to make an entertaining show,” he said, per People. “What’s more important for weight loss? We all know it’s diet but that becomes boring television. You know what’s not boring television? To see us in a gym yelling, screaming… and producers loved that s***. They were like, ‘We want them to puke! We want the madness of it all!’”

Harper did confess there were moments he wasn’t proud of, specifically yelling at Season 7 contestant Joelle Gwynn, but noted, “[I] will stand behind everything that I’ve ever done on that show,” adding that he “would never put anyone in harm’s way.”