O'Donnell is expected to take the witness stand later in the trial

Both sides are blaming each other for the demise of the magazine. The TV star left the title before it shut in 2002.

"Ms O'Donnell walked away from the magazine, causing it to shut down in its second year of publication," said a lawyer for publishers Gruner and Jahr.

The 41-year-old said she left the magazine because of editorial problems.

The publishers are seeking $100m (�62.5m), while Ms O'Donnell is counter-suing the publishers for $125m (�79m).

Ms O'Donnell, who is expected to take the witness stand in her defence later in the trial, was in the New York Supreme Court to hear opening arguments.

Sopranos clash

Gruner and Jahr lawyer Martin Hyman said the magazine - which started in 2001 with sales of 3.5 million - started having problems after Ms O'Donnell clashed with publishers over editorial control.

Mr Hyman said a key dispute involved a picture of Ms O'Donnell with cast members of the TV drama The Sopranos.

She wanted things to return to the way they were when she was in control Rosie O'Donnell's lawyer Lorna Schofield

"Ms O'Donnell hated this photo because she thought it made her look fat," Mr Hyman said. He added she "threw a foul-mouthed temper tantrum" so that editors on the magazine had to change the picture.

Ms O'Donnell's lawyer, Lorna Schofield, said the TV star - who hosted The Rosie O'Donnell show for six years - left the magazine because the publishers had breached a contract giving her full editorial control.

She agreed the photo in question had upset Ms O'Donnell, but said it made the former chat show host believe she was losing control of the title.

"She wanted things to return to the way they were when she was in control," Ms Schofield said.

Ms O'Donnell's lawyers are also claiming the magazine's sales were over-inflated by the publisher to make it appear healthier, and that she was able to leave if the title posted particularly high losses.

The magazine, Rosie, was launched in 2001, as a way of saving Gruner and Jahr's failing title McCall's.

Several weeks

The battle between the two parties has been public since O'Donnell's departure from Rosie.

She held a press conference announcing she was leaving the magazine last year, and criticised its publishers.

"I cannot have my name on a magazine if I cannot be assured that it will represent my vision and ideas," she said.

O'Donnell, who left her talk show last year, is currently producing a Broadway version of Boy George's autobiographical musical Taboo.

The hearing is expected to last several weeks.