Rosie O’Donnell confirms she has left the U.S. and will consider moving back when there are ‘equal rights’
Rosie O’Donnell has revealed that she’s no longer living in the U.S.
The 62-year-old actor shared a video on TikTok on Tuesday to confirm that she has left America and moved to Ireland.
She also clarified that she and her 12-year-old adopted daughter, Dakota, moved on January 15, only five days before Donald Trump took office as the 47th U.S. President.
“It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to say,” she said in the nine-minute video. “The people are so loving and so kind and so welcoming. And I’m very grateful.”
O’Donnell, who has a long-standing feud with Trump, also shared that she’s in the process of getting her Irish citizenship since she has Irish grandparents.
“I was never someone who thought I would move to another country. That's what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are,” she added.
Later in the video, O’Donnell shared that while she and her daughter — whom she referred to as Clay — are “happy,” she misses her other children in the U.S.
O’Donnell and ex-wife Kelli Carpenter share three adopted children: Parker, 29, Chelsea, 27 and Blake, 24 — and Viviene, 22, who is Carpenter’s biological daughter, conceived by IVF.
O’Donnell adopted Dakota with her second wife, Michelle Rounds. They split up in 2015.
“I miss my friends,” O’Donnell said in her video.
“I miss many things about life there at home and I'm trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that's when we will consider coming back.”
Apparently referring to America under Trump, she noted: “It's been heartbreaking to see what's happening politically and hard for me personally as well.”
The Now and Then star shared that with the help of her friend, she has been exploring her new hometown, Dublin.
O’Donnell apologized to those who were “worried” about her and “missed” her. She also expressed why she waited to make this announcement.
“I just felt like we needed to take care of ourselves and make some hard decisions and follow through,” she added, explaining her absence on TikTok. “And now as we're getting settled, I was ready to post this and to tell everybody what's been going on.”
The TV host continued her video by reiterating how much she has enjoyed traveling through Ireland, and that she now wants to get back into photography.
She then ended the clip with a message to her followers, urging them to “protect [their] sanity as much as [they] can,” even though it feels “nearly impossible” sometimes.
“I think about everyone every day and the United States of America. And I am hoping that we can turn things around, counting on you, all of you, to do what's right. And I think deep down inside, we all know what that is,” O’Donnell ended.
The Independent has contacted O’Donnell for comment.
Days before announcing her move, O’Donnell hinted about the big change on Instagram. She posted a photo of herself behind the wheel of a car, indicating in the caption that she wasn’t in the U.S.
“Bought a little used car to tool around the countryside on the wrong side of the road," she wrote in the caption of her post shared last week, as reported by People. "Hit the curb three times — thought I hit a cat !!! #newadventures.”
Her post also included a picture of Dakota in the backseat of the car next to her backpack.
O’Donnell also mentioned in the caption that she was taking her child to school and that she couldn’t wait to “walk to school” with Dakota.
