Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Rosie O’Donnell isn’t shying away from hotbutton issues on her newOprah Winfrey Ne t w o r k talk show. Since the variety program’s premiere on Oct. 10, O’Donnell has tackled topics including her renewed, menopausal sex drive and police brutality at the Occupy Wall Street protests. O’Donnell’s outspokenness about the Iraq War led to her abrupt exit from The View, and her no-holds-barred attitude may have landed her a few high-profile enemies, but the comedian’s new boss embraces her lack of filter. “Oprah is so supportive,” said O’Donnell, 49. “She said, ‘Trust your instincts, go with your gut, you know what to do, trust yourself.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing.” The Rosie Show, a mixture of celebrity interviews, stand-up comedy, musical acts, games and reality TV, has garnered mixed reviews and lackluster ratings.

An addiction expert testifying for the doctorcharged in Michael Jackson’s death told jurors Thursday that he believes that the singer developed an addiction to a powerful pain medicine in the months before his death. Dr. Robert Waldman told a Los Angeles court that Jackson was receiving “above-average doses” of the painkiller Demerol. “I believe there is evidence that he was dependent on Demerol, possibly,” Waldman said. The witness said he also thinks Jackson had an addiction to opioids by May 2009, the month before his death. Waldman said a symptom of Demerol withdrawal is insomnia. Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray have suggested that Jackson was undergoing withdrawal from Demerol before his death and self-administered a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. Jackson had complained of insomnia as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts.