Rumor has it that Rosie O'Donnell is being set up as Oprah's replacement when the Daytime Queen retires from her eponymous show in 2011. At least that's how the industry gossips put it. The truth is that while Rosie is planning a talk show to launch when the Oprah set goes dark, it's being produced by a different company and will probably run on cable, not on ABC.

But who can resist speculating about who could replace Oprah Winfrey? Since Oprah announced that her show would be ending its 25-year run, a short list of possible candidates has included Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin, Tyra Banks and even Michelle Obama. But I think Oprah is irreplaceable. Sure, you could give another woman her time-slot, but in the world of daytime talk, time-slots are meaningless. You live or die on your own ability to capture the public imagination.

Rumor has it that Rosie O'Donnell is being set up as Oprah's replacement when the Daytime Queen retires from her eponymous show in 2011. At least that's how the industry gossips put it. The truth is that while Rosie is planning a talk show to launch when the Oprah set goes dark, it's being produced by a different company and will probably run on cable, not on ABC.

But who can resist speculating about who could replace Oprah Winfrey? Since Oprah announced that her show would be ending its 25-year run, a short list of possible candidates has included Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin, Tyra Banks and even Michelle Obama. But I think Oprah is irreplaceable. Sure, you could give another woman her time-slot, but in the world of daytime talk, time-slots are meaningless. You live or die on your own ability to capture the public imagination.

TMZ reports that back in 2005, a drunken Rachael Ray made some ugly remarks about Oprah, the woman who helped launch Ray into the spotlight. Then again, Ray may have done no such thing. That's pretty much the gist of the article. Careful readers will note that none of the sources are named, so I guess that's why it's called celebrity gossip. If Ray did indeed get drunk at an event in Century City and made racist remarks about the portrait of Oprah from Beloved that hangs in Harpo Studios, or referred to Angelina Jolie as a "backdoor c**t," it was muttered before people started filming embarrassing celeb moments with their camera phones. Now all we have is speculation about what someone may or may not have said two years ago.

If it makes Ray feel any better, I once called my little brother a "stupid doody idiot head" when I was five. I've always regretted saying it, and I hope no one was taping me, because I'd really hate for something I said when I was drunk to haunt me years down the road.

I was an alcoholic five year old. I forgot to mention that.