Rosie, Publisher Duke It Out

Rosie O'Donnell — former sweetheart of daytime talk, veteran comedian and producer of an upcoming Broadway musical is taking her act to a Manhattan courtroom.

She stars there beginning Thursday in a multi-million-dollar trial pitting her against a publisher over who is to blame for the demise of her self-titled magazine, which flopped last fall.

The trial is expected to feature differing accounts of O'Donnell's style as the editorial inspiration for Rosie, launched by publisher Gruner + Jahr USA in 2001 as a way to rescue the failing publication McCall's.

O'Donnell contends she was being denied the editorial control she had been promised over the magazine that bore her name. G+J claims O'Donnell was a volatile, unprofessional manager who broke her contract.

The magazine folded quickly after O'Donnell resigned in September 2002.

G+J is seeking $100 million from O'Donnell, and she seeks $125 million in a countersuit. The trial opens Thursday in state Supreme Court before Justice Ira Gammerman, whose past trials have involved Woody Allen and Stephen Sondheim.

From the day O'Donnell quit the magazine, the two sides in the dispute have aired their cases publicly.

O'Donnell held a press conference to announce she was abandoning the venture, declaring that "I cannot have my name on a magazine if I cannot be assured that it will represent my vision and ideas."

O'Donnell declined comment ahead of the trial, but spokeswoman Cindi Berger said: "Rosie looks forward to proving her case at trial."

For its part, the publisher said it refused to try the case in the press — but issued a statement anyway accusing O'Donnell and her lawyers of distorting the facts surrounding the magazine's flop.

"The evidence will show, in contrast, that O'Donnell breached the joint venture agreement when she decided to walk away from the magazine without legal justification, resulting in the loss of more than 100 jobs," G+J said.

At stake in the trial, expected to last no more than several weeks, is more than the millions sought in legal papers. Analysts say O'Donnell's public image could be on the line.

"If it comes out in court that her behavior was so destructive, she may have trouble working," said Mediaweek general editor Lisa Granatstein. "She is a big star, and how she conducts herself in court will be ultimately what helps or hurts her."

O'Donnell is expected to take the witness stand to defend herself.

The trial comes as O'Donnell prepares to launch "Taboo," a boisterous musical about Boy George — and starring Boy George in a different role — that O'Donnell has confidently predicted will win a Tony Award next summer. She is the $10 million show's producer and single investor.

"The Rosie O'Donnell Show," the talk show so popular one magazine dubbed O'Donnell the Queen of Nice, ended its run in May 2002. About the same time, O'Donnell published a book in which she said she was a lesbian.

A key prong of the dispute between O'Donnell and the publisher is how the magazine reports its circulation numbers.

Lawyers for O'Donnell are expected to contend that G+J deliberately overstated its subscriber base to make the magazine appear more financially healthy than it was. O'Donnell's contract allowed her to walk away from the magazine if it posted particularly high losses.