MJF has never avoided controversy. His latest comments about his childhood appearance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show show that even old memories aren’t off-limits for him. The current AEW World Champion recently talked about a clip of him as a five-year-old that has gone viral. As usual, he didn’t hold back.
Years before becoming one of AEW’s biggest stars, young Maxwell Jacob Friedman appeared on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. In the clip, he confidently says he wants to grow up to be either an opera singer or a pro wrestler. He then sings “You Are My Sunshine.”
When the video first started gaining traction, MJF denied that it was him. Later, he leaned into it and admitted in his statement on social media, “When I said ‘that’s not me’, I am going to be honest. I lied.”
Rosie O’Donnell has had a long career in entertainment. Moreover, she has often been at the centre of controversies due to her public feuds and strong opinions.
Staying in character, he jokingly accused O’Donnell of leaking the clip to get attention from his fame. He then went on to describe his “bad” experience on the show and revealed that O’Donnell said that she wanted to become a singer just like him, but she lacked talent.
Recently, during his appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast, the host asked MJF what he remembered about being on the show. His answer was blunt and very much true to his character.
“She was a big woman and she smelled. Outside of that, I was given Shrek ears, WWF Restaurant tickets. The restaurant shut down before I could go, which was typical Rosie O’Donnell. I want something. I want money, and I was given a lot of strawberry Dunkin Donuts, my mom must have told her those were my faves, because they were at the time,” MJF said.
The WWF New York restaurant in Times Square closed in 2003. So the unused tickets became the catalyst for another funny complaint.
What makes the story interesting is how accurate his childhood prediction turned out to be. As a kid, he said he wanted to be a wrestler. Now, he is one of AEW’s top names. Even if he pretends to hate the clip, it works as a funny origin story for one of wrestling’s current top heels.
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