Rosie O’Donnell discussed her messy estrangement from adopted daughter Chelsea, after she petitioned to drop the star’s last name in favor of her birth mother’s name.
The comedian, 63, recently cut Chelsea, 27, out of her $80 million estate, and in retaliation Chelsea went to court herself to file for a name change, requesting to return to her birth mother Deanna Micoley’s maiden name, Neuens.
On Sunday, O’Donnell issued a bizarre response to Chelsea’s petition, writing a lengthy poem on her Substack, titled ‘my child chelsea.’
In the poem, O’Donnell said Chelsea’s bid to change her last name ‘doesn’t make sense’ to her, however she added, ‘its not about me/ i am here for her/ she’s not here for me.’
O’Donnell’s relationship with her daughter — who is currently in a sober living facility — has been publicly tumultuous since Chelsea ran away from home as a young teenager.
Although they appeared to reconcile in 2018, their connection fractured again in 2024 when Chelsea was arrested on felony child neglect and drug possession charges, followed by two more similar arrests in the subsequent two months.
Rosie O’Donnell, 63, discussed her estrangement from adopted daughter Chelsea, 27, after she petitioned to drop the star’s last name in favor of her birth mother’s name; pictured in 2024
The comedian recently cut Chelsea out of her $80 million estate, and in retaliation Chelsea went to court herself to file for a name change, requesting to return to her birth mother Deanna Micoley’s maiden name, Neuens; Rosie and Chelsea seen in 2016
Despite the name change, Rosie said that her bond to Chelsea remains the same.
‘Same name or not/ that’s my girl/ fierce and determined,’ she wrote in the poem, which Rosie said she was sharing with Chelsea’s approval.
‘She wants her privacy / i am her mom / the story is out there/ people judge and ask/ why didn’t u try more … /u should have done something else … /I would never have … /if she were mine …’ the poem began.
Rosie went on to say that ‘every adoption story is complicated’ adding, ‘a primal wound/ sometimes doesn’t heal.’
The poem continued, with the star sharing that Chelsea’s journey was ‘made public by a series of bad decisions/ on everyones part/ when she was a young teen.’
‘Some things are hard to come back from/ why don’t u talk about her more/ how can I/ what would I say,’ Rosie pondered.
Elsewhere in the poem, Rosie wrote about a court hearing a few months ago, when a Wisconsin judge told Chelsea he was proud that she had completed treatment, and encouraged Chelsea to give herself praise as well.
‘The story made my knees weak/ to think of my child/ parenting herself – honoring herself/ made me weep,’ Rosie wrote.
O’Donnell said Chelsea’s bid to change her last name ‘doesn’t make sense’ to her, however she added, ‘its not about me/ i am here for her/ she’s not here for me’ in a poem shared to her Substack on Sunday
Rosie added, ‘Same name or not/ that’s my girl/ fierce and determined’; Rosie with her five adopted children Chelsea, Blake, Vivienne, Parker and Dakota O’Donnell
After she was cut out of Rosie’s estate, Chelsea went to court herself to petition to change her last name back to her birth mother Micoley’s maiden name, Neuens
Chelsea’s birth mother Deanna Micoley holding a photo of her as a baby before she gave her up for adoption. The two reunited in 2015 and Deanna was the one to bail her out of jail in November 2024
She also shared how Chelsea recently called her to say that she had gotten her high school diploma ‘ten years too late’, which caused Rosie to cry.
Rosie added that Chelsea is ‘doing so well now’ and ‘working on herself’, stating that she wishes she could ‘delete’ her own fame for her daughter’s sake.
On Tuesday, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that after years of public feuding, Rosie turned her back on her wayward daughter one final time, cutting her out of her $80 million estate.
The one-time talk titan made the decision just days before she left the United States to start a new life in Ireland.
‘Chelsea really didn’t care that Rosie wrote her out,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
‘I mean who wouldn’t want to have access to millions? But for Chelsea it is not about the money, it’s about feeling wanted and loved.’
‘And that’s something she feels she has never really had from Rosie.’
‘Money is what allowed for Rosie to send her away to six or seven boarding schools during her lifetime.’
‘Rich people can pay someone else to raise their kids. Middle- or lower-class parents actually have to be parents, they can’t ship their kids off at the first sign of trouble,’ the source added.
Chelsea, the second of the star’s five adopted children, is currently in a sober living facility in Marinette, Wisconsin, and could not be contacted for comment.
Chelsea and Rosie have long had a contentious relationship, which the former co-host of The View has put down to her daughter being ‘born addicted to heroin.’ Chelsea was sentenced on March 31 to six years probation after being arrested on multiple drug charges
Chelsea was most recently arrested on November 18, following previous arrests on September 10 (left) October 11 (right) in connection with allegations of drug-related offenses
Rosie specifically cut Chelsea out of her estate in the documents. They state she has $27 million in life insurance twhich means Chelsea would miss out on $5.4 million from that source alone
Rosie’s representative pointed DailyMail.com to the 30-stanza poem that Rosie posted on Substack, but said she would have no further comment.
Chelsea pleaded guilty to a string of felonies and misdemeanors including drug and child neglect charges in a Wisconsin courtroom on March 31 and was sentenced to 6-years-probation, with strict terms and conditions.
If she violates her probation she could face several years in state prison.
Chelsea and Rosie have long had a contentious relationship, which the former co-host of The View has put down to her daughter being ‘born addicted to heroin’.
‘She has had a tough road,’ Rosie said in 2017 after Chelsea had given an interview to DailyMail.com in which she claimed her mother had threatened to hit her with a wine bottle because she had gotten a tattoo.
‘Chelsea is mentally ill. Has been in and out of hospitals most of her life,’ Rosie added.
‘She is very sick. She is not capable of truth or reason.’
At the time, Chelsea said she was pregnant and insisted that Rosie ‘would not be in my son’s life’.
‘And no, I do not feel sad about that to be honest,’ she added. In the end she miscarried.
But she now has four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months old and living in foster care. The other three are living with their father.
And now, following Chelsea’s three arrests in as many months, Rosie has decided enough is enough.
According to documents exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, Rosie cut Chelsea out of two separate trusts on January 6, just 11 days before she left the country in protest at Donald Trump’s re-election as president.
Chelsea’s youngest child is in foster care, while her three other children live with their father
‘At the time of the execution of this indenture, the donor’s children are Parker O’Donnell, Chelsea O’Donnell (‘Chelsea’), Blake O’Donnell, Vivienne Rose O’Donnell and Dakota O’Donnell,’ one of the trust documents reads.
‘However for all purposes of this indenture, the terms of ‘the donor’s children,’ ‘child of the donor,’ ‘issue of the donor’ and any term of like import shall not include Chelsea or any issue of Chelsea,’ it adds, making clear that her grandchildren are also out.
The documents state that Rosie has $27 million in life insurance, which means Chelsea is missing out on more $5.4 million from that source alone.
DailyMail.com understands that Rosie sent Chelsea a copy of the documents so she would know for sure that she would not inherit any of her fortune, which Celebrity Net Worth estimates at $80 million.
Then on January 30, Chelsea filed papers in court in Wisconsin where she now lives asking for the name change.
On the form submitting the request she filled in the reason for wanting the name change as ‘Adoption/family name’.
The source said that Chelsea is finally taking responsibility for her actions, but no one will ever know what she went through as a child.
‘Chelsea turned to drugs to cope in life, it is not an excuse it just happened that way,’ the source said.
‘I do not think it is uncommon for most adopted children to have abandonment issues. Then to be shipped away to some troubled youth facility masked as a “boarding school” only further complicates the issue.
‘It’s not an excuse but she turned to drugs to mask her pain, of her feeling of not being wanted.
Chelsea and Rosie last spoke in December. ‘Chelsea has put Rosie in her rear-view mirror,’ said the source.
Rosie has been forthright about her problems raising her children.
‘My teenagers are a nightmare, they’re horrible,’ she joked in 2016.
Rosie signed her drug-riddled daughter out of the will 11 days before she left the country in protest at Donald Trump’s re-election as president; she is seen in 2023
‘I had four teenagers when I decided to adopt a newborn baby. You might ask why. Because I had four teenagers and I needed to remind myself that I actually do love children.’
Rosie’s decision to move to Ireland with her youngest, Dakota, 12 – who is non-binary and goes by the name Clay – came after Trump’s election. They are living close to U2 drummer Larry Mullen and Oscar-nominated actor Brendan Gleason in an upmarket area, 20 minutes from the center of Dublin.
She said she plans to take out Irish citizenship but may return to the United States ‘when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights’.
‘I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home, and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country,’ she said from her new homeland.
