NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Rosie O'Donnell took the stand in her defense Thursday and told the court about a conversation she had with Dan Brewster, CEO of publisher Gruner & Jahr.

O'Donnell said Brewster asked her jokingly if she was going to act like some female celebrity entrepreneurs.

"Are you going to be a controlling bitch like Martha and Oprah?" Brewster asked, according to O'Donnell.

"Martha and Oprah are pretty successful bitches, don't you think?" she said she replied.

Brewster responded with a laugh, O'Donnell said.

After several days of testimony, the former talk-show host was the first to testify in her own defense in the much-publicized battle against the publisher over who might be responsible for the failure of the now-defunct magazine bearing her name.

O'Donnell left the magazine 13 months ago, following a dispute over editorial control, and the publisher shut the publication shortly afterward.

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Gruner & Jahr, a unit of German publisher Bertelsmann AG, filed a claim for $100 million against O'Donnell, alleging she acted unprofessionally and breached her contract when she pulled out of the venture in September 2002. O'Donnell countersued for $125 million, saying Gruner & Jahr took away her editorial control.

On Wednesday, a top official at Gruner & Jahr took the witness stand and told the court that the 41-year-old entertainer taunted her by saying people get cancer when they lie.

Cindy Spengler, who was head of marketing at Rosie magazine, is a breast cancer survivor.

O'Donnell's spokeswoman said the star later apologized.