Oprah Winfrey Reveals Her Rosie O’Donnell ‘Crazy Check’

As Oprah Winfrey prepares to launch OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, the media maven is taking a few steps to ensure a great start to her new network – one precaution was “a crazy check” for Rosie O’Donnell, who’s been tapped to have her own OWN show.

In a new interview with Fortune magazine, Oprah revealed that she and OWN chief creative officer Lisa Erspamer visited Rosie at her home last June to determine if the polarizing TV personality would be right for her new venture.

“Rosie said, ‘I know you’re here to assess how crazy I am.’ I said, ‘Basically, yes. I’m doing a crazy check,’” Oprah told the mag.

The daytime queen was impressed with Rosie, who made headlines when she left “The View” in 2007 following an on-air argument with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and also had a very public spat with “View” boss Barbara Walters.

“What I found is that she is so generous as a mother,” Oprah explained.

As for dealing with any problems that might arise with Rosie’s new OWN talk show, Oprah expects direct communication.

“If you have an issue that’s causing a problem, speak to me, woman to woman,” Oprah said in the interview. “So that it doesn’t become a worldwide issue.”

OWN will launch on Jan. 1, 2011.

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