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Beware of repositioning a magazine when the brand personality is owned by a woman named Rosie.

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2002. Last year, the venerable 125 year old ladies' magazine, McCall's, changed its name to Rosie, and became the celebrity vanity plate of Rosie O'Donnell. Like Oprah and Martha Stewart before her, Rosie muscles into nearly all cover shots, even when hospitalized and bandaged from a staph infection.

Now there's trouble in Rosieland. According to the New York Times, publishers Gruner & Jahr USA are asserting editorial control of the magazine, trying to wrestle it away from the pushy namesake clutching the title of editorial director and a fifty percent financial stake: "We cannot permit Rosie magazine to migrate into a manifesto for its namesake's personal views," Gruner & Jahr's chief executive, Daniel B. Brewster Jr., wrote in a memo last month to representatives of Ms. O'Donnell and senior [G&J] executives.Yes, they cannot allow a magazine named Rosie, featuring Rosie on every cover, dare to express Rosie's "personal views." That would be way over the top. Both sides have hired hot-shot lawyers to sort out the mess.

Meanwhile, the co-branding effort between Rosie, Martha Stewart Prison Living and Curve has become muffled -- dampening everyone's spirits.