Tragic Details Of Rosie O'Donnell's Daughter Chelsea

The following article contains references to drug use, child abuse, and suicide.

You might think that being the child of a celebrity would be a dream come true, but for Chelsea O'Donnell, oldest daughter of Rosie O'Donnell, it has been more of a nightmare. Her life has been filled with tragedies that include public discord with her adoptive mom, excessive drug use, and arrests for drug possession and child neglect. In fact, her comedian mother once joked, "My teenagers are a nightmare, they're horrible" (via People). She added that she adopted her fifth child when the others were teens because, "I needed to remind myself that I actually do love children."

Rosie and her now ex-wife Kelli Carpenter became parents to Chelsea Belle O'Donnell when the child was just 3 months old . Chelsea is the second of five children that the former co-host of "The View" adopted, and the one with whom she has experienced a publicly troubled relationship. According to Rosie, Chelsea's life got off to a rough start and it's been an uphill climb ever since. Born dependent on heroin, drugs have been an issue for Chelsea since the start. She has experienced an on-again, off-again relationship with her famous mom and has been very vocal about her childhood, often casting Rosie in a less-than-favorable role. Her use of illegal substances and inability to properly care for her children have landed Chelsea and her mother in the glare of the spotlight and reopened a painful past. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Chelsea alleged that her famous mom Rosie O'Donnell was abusive. As she told the publication, there were several instances of physical and verbal assaults throughout her teen years. "Since I was 12, Rosie has been verbally abusive and that was something I didn't like, making me feel that there was something wrong with me," she told the outlet in 2017. She also shared that her mother struck her for getting in trouble at boarding school. "She got really close to me. I tried to push her away from me and she hit me," she said.

Although Chelsea said her mother apologized for that incident, she revealed it was not the only instance of abuse. According to Chelsea, Rosie once chased her with a broken wine bottle and tried to pull her clothes off to view a tattoo Chelsea had gotten against her wishes. "She was holding [the bottle] above her head and coming after me in her room. She kept trying to run after me and saying that if she really wanted to she could kill me, she's that strong," Chelsea said. Rosie has denied her daughter's allegations, telling the Daily Mail they are "unfounded, untrue, and desperate."

Mothers and daughters have their ups and downs, but Chelsea O'Donnell's relationship with her mother Rosie O'Donnell has been a roller coaster ride. However, their problems could stem from more than simply a battle of wills. In a response to the interview Chelsea gave Daily Mail in 2017, Rosie said that her daughter had been diagnosed with a physical brain issue while she was a patient at Silver Hill, a psychiatric hospital in Connecticut. "The doctors there found a hole in her frontal lobe most like from a stroke in utero. This severely compromises her cognitive abilities and always has," Rosie shared, further adding that Chelsea has a low IQ score. 

In addition to the condition Rosie says has impaired her daughter's reasoning skills, the star of "A League of Their Own" told Daily Mail that her daughter is "mentally ill [and] has been in and out of hospitals most of her life." She also shared that Chelsea once attempted suicide. For her part, Chelsea denied her mother's claims to Daily Mail, calling her a "cruel [narcissistic vengeful] woman." However, in an earlier interview with Inside Edition, Chelsea revealed that she experienced depression following Rosie's divorce from Kelli Carpenter. 

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It's not uncommon for a child to threaten to run away, but Chelsea O'Donnell actually went through with it. Or did she? She may be a comedian, but it was no joke when Rosie O'Donnell reported that her teenage daughter was missing. However, Chelsea claimed that there was more to the story than her mother let on.

In an exclusive interview with Inside Edition, Chelsea said that she didn't run away but was instead kicked out by Rosie. She claimed Rosie was upset by her lack of communication and told her to leave. In the interview, Chelsea also expressed her displeasure at her mother's decision to publicly release a statement about her mental health.

Chelsea, who was just 17 at the time, was found by police at the home of her boyfriend, 25-year-old Steven Sheerer, a reported heroine dealer that she met on Tinder while posing as a 19-year-old. The event may have played out as a major drama, but Chelsea maintained that her mother was aware or her whereabouts from the start. She told Daily Mail, "I was gone for a week and she knew where I was. The week after I left, she told everyone that I was missing and went to the police." Although publicly Rosie was thankful to have her daughter home, privately Chelsea claimed that the actor kicked her out again immediately.  She told Daily Mail that she stayed at a friend's house for a week. "I returned home for an hour," she said. "She had my bags there and told me to leave." 

After the drama surrounding her "disappearance," Chelsea O'Donnell moved to Wisconsin to live with her birth mother, Deanna Micoley, whom she had never met in person but had recently begun talking to on the phone. "Chelsea made a decision when she turned 18 that she wanted to go to her birth mother," Rosie O'Donnell's publicist, Cindi Berger, told People. "This was her choice." It proved to be the wrong choice, and Chelsea left after a week. Rather than return home to Rosie and her siblings, she moved in with friends. She explained her decision in an interview with Inside Edition. "I don't miss Rosie at all," she said. "I miss the rest of my family a lot, but I think there is some much needed space between me and Rosie, and it's been nice having that." Chelsea also admitted in the interview that while she cared about Rosie, she did not feel any love towards her.  

While moving in with Micoley may not have worked out as planned, Chelsea revealed to Daily Mail that she has tried to keep in touch with her biological mom. "I haven't spoken to her recently but the last time I saw her, things were good," she said. Chelsea shared that she had also attempted to forge a connection with her biological father Lance Schilling. "Ive tried talking to him a few times and it's going okay," she said. Chelsea added that she was taking things slowly and letting these relationships unfold one step at a time. 

Weddings are typically a happy time as brides and their mothers share in the planning and preparation for the big day. In the case of Chelsea O'Donnell, not only was her famous mother Rosie O'Donnell not involved in the planning, she wasn't even at the wedding. Then again, it's hard to be at a wedding that you don't even know is taking place. When Chelsea and her then boyfriend, plumber Nick Alliegro met at a Long Island Dunkin' Donuts, they wasted no time taking their relationship to the next level, moving in together after just a few months. Although Chelsea and her mom were on speaking terms at the time, Rosie wasn't happy about the relationship, even going so far as to offer Alliegro financial support if he broke things off with her daughter. 

Undeterred, Alliegro married Chelsea when they discovered she was carrying his child. The couple chose not to tell Rosie about the nuptials. ""I wanted to tell her side of the family but she didn't want to," Alliegro told Daily Mail. The "Now and Then" star only learned about the wedding after the fact when Chelsea, who had a miscarriage, checked into a hospital for headaches. "Rosie called the hospital and was trying to get her status but they told her only her husband could get information," Alliegro said. Not only did Rosie not go visit her daughter, Alliegro said she only agreed to help with any medical expenses if the couple got a divorce. 

The volatile relationship between Rosie and Chelsea O'Donnell not only cost the comedian an invitation to her daughter's wedding, but it also prevented her from sharing in her baby joy. After experiencing a devastating miscarriage, Chelsea and her husband were again expecting. "It's very exciting and I'm looking forward to it. But Rosie will not be in my child's life — and no, I do not feel sad about that to be honest," Chelsea revealed to Daily Mail. The pregnancy news came hot on the heels of Rosie's ex-wife Michelle Rounds' apparent suicide. Rather than congratulate her daughter, Rosie took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and posted multiple tweets that featured family photos and videos. She implied in the captions that Chelsea was trying to profit from Rounds' untimely death. "We have been here before Chelsea u wanna go a few rounds in public seems so," Rosie said in a since deleted post adding "Michelle's death = money 4 Chelsea" (via People).

Chelsea and her husband relocated from the New York area to Texas to put some distance between themselves and the O'Donnell clan as they awaited the birth of their child. "We wanted a change," she told Daily Mail. "To move somewhere new and start making memories."  Although it is unclear what happened since the announcement of her pregnancy, Chelsea and Nick did not welcome a baby into their family.

While her first two pregnancies with husband Nick Alliegro did not result in children, Chelsea O'Donnell became pregnant again; however, the father isn't Alliegro. Instead, it is Jacob Bourassa, the man Chelsea began dating while still married to (but reportedly estranged from) Alliegro. In a now deleted Facebook post, Bourassa shared the couple's happy news with a photo of a clearly pregnant Chelsea, along with sonogram pictures and the caption, "Loves of my life can't wait to meet my little one" (via Us Weekly). Not long after the baby news was announced, Chelsea filed for divorce from Alliegro. At the time of filing, they had been married for less than two years.

Chelsea's biological mother, Deanna Micoley, seemed to show more enthusiasm over the announcement than her adoptive mother Rosie O'Donnell. Micoley commented on the photo, "I'm so very proud of you! You are absolutely beautiful! You will be a great mommy" (via People). As for Rosie, she confirmed the pregnancy through her rep and said that they were on speaking terms once again. In 2018, Chelsea and Bourassa welcomed daughter Skyler Rose and went on to add two more daughters, Riley, and Avery Lynn to their family before splitting up.

Chelsea later moved into a new relationship with Jacob Nelund, with whom she shares her fourth child, a son named Atlas. Nelund and Chelsea moved in together, but it was not what most would consider a match made in heaven. Police were called to the home more than once for domestic disputes between the couple, Page Six reported.

A domestic dispute between Chelsea O'Donnell and boyfriend Jacob Nelund led to Chelsea's arrest for child neglect and drug offenses. Police arrived at the couple's home after Chelsea called 911. Once there, things went from bad to worse. According to court documents obtained by In Touch, police noted that Chelsea's pupils were dilated. Combined with her suspicious behavior, this led them to detain the mom of four. Police later discovered a meth pipe with meth residue in her pocket, along with a vial of meth and some pills in her bra. "I tried to ask her more questions and you could tell that Chelsea was not being honest whatsoever," an officer said in the report. "This was a repeat of what happened a few weeks prior when I was at her house for a similar incident."

Police entered the house where the couple's 11-month-old son Atlas was sleeping. There, officers reported deplorable living conditions that included mounds of filth and excrement, along with drugs and drug paraphernalia in the baby's room. Officers also found evidence to suggest that the home was used for drug trafficking. One officer noted per the report, "It appeared Jacob and Chelsea were more concerned with their drug addiction than providing [the baby] with a safe and clean environment." Chelsea was arrested and charged with four felony counts of maintaining a drug trafficking place, child neglect, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of THC.

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Just a couple of weeks after being released on bail from her arrest on drug related and child neglect charges, Chelsea O'Donnell once again found herself in trouble with the law. The oldest daughter of Rosie O'Donnell was pulled over by police, arrested, and charged with three felonies of possession of meth, bail jumping, possession of narcotics and other misdemeanor charges, according to court documents obtained by In Touch.

Chelsea, who was traveling with an unidentified male companion, was reported to be acting suspicious during questioning. One officer stated in the report that she was "visibly nervous, shaking, and her forehead was covered in sweat." According to the report, Chelsea tried unsuccessfully to get rid of the drug paraphernalia she was hiding in her pocket, and police found three used needles in the car. Police took Chelsea to a local hospital where Oxycodone, meth, and a meth pipe were taken from her bra before she was admitted to jail. 

In a statement to In Touch, the O'Donnell family said, "Sadly, this is not new for our family — Chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade — we are all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease." Rosie followed that up with an Instagram post featuring a photo of her oldest daughter holding a baby with the caption, "This is a photo from a better time." 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).