In August, Rosie O’Donnell reported then-17-year-old daughter Chelsea O’Donnell was missing and possibly in danger. The teen was later found hiding out in the attic of older convict Steven Sheerer, but Chelsea defended their relationship and moved in with him after turning 18 (following a brief stay with her biological mom). This week, Chelsea spoke out for the first time about why she doesn’t get along with Rosie.
“I find her not genuine a lot of the time. When we’d go out, she was a completely different person in public than at home and I had a hard time with that. It’s like two different people,” Chelsea told The Daily Mail. “She would always go up to people and want to hold their babies in public. She had this happy, friendly side to her. Whereas when we were home, even if it was on the same day, she would either just be in her room, not engaging with us, or watching documentaries. And if we didn’t want to do what she wanted to do, it would cause a big issue.”
Chelsea said she and her siblings subsisted on pizza or Chinese food because Rosie couldn’t cook. She also said Rosie would eat all of the cookies in the house and often asked the kids for candy — possibly because she had the munchies. As Chelsea said, “I mean, she smokes weed – not around us – but the whole house smells like it.”
For the most part, two nannies cared for Chelsea and her siblings while Rosie slept in late or did crafts, which is apparently a big passion of hers. “She has a whole house which is just for her arts and crafts. She bought the next door neighbor’s house. She goes and spends all day down there,” Chelsea said. “The kids were allowed inside the arts and crafts house. It has paint all over the floors and walls, it’s kind of a mess but it’s still nice.”
As a result of Rosie’s reclusive habits, Chelsea said she was “pretty much raised by nannies.” She said that helped her have a happy childhood, but made it difficult to connect with Rosie. She said, “She showed affection with my siblings but I don’t like her touching me – but that’s just me. We wouldn’t cuddle up on the couch and watch movies, we would take our own chairs. We went on vacation a lot when I was little and that was always fun. It was nice to go to Florida and hang out with my siblings.”
Things got worse when around the time Rosie and Kelli Carpenter divorced when Chelsea was 12. She began struggling with depression and anxiety, which caused her relationship with Rosie to worsen. “Rosie’s fuse was really short with me and she would yell. For punishment, we were sent to our rooms, no electronics, not being allowed to hang out with friends,” she complained, explaining she ultimately went to live with Kelli before going to a “therapeutic boarding school” in Utah. “I was having a lot of struggles, realizing I like boys and not knowing how to handle those feelings. I may not have gone about it in the best way,” Chelsea said. “I resent her for that. That’s four years of my life that were spent sent away to places where I had very limited freedom and I didn’t want to be. I think being sent away has played a huge part in why our relationship is so hard.”
After graduating from that school, Chelsea attended another boarding school on the East Coast before moving back in with Rosie last year. She said their tensions boiled over on August 11, and Rosie kicked her out of the house — contradicting Rosie’s police report, in which she said Chelsea ran away. Chelsea said Rosie made that excuse because “people started asking questions and she didn’t want to seem like this bad parent that had kicked her daughter out.”
She added, “Putting out there that I am mentally ill was really hurtful. People think I’m this crazy person and as I’ve said, I have depression and bad anxiety – but it’s been something that’s gotten a lot better. But these were personal things and I didn’t want anyone to know them about me.”
Even after Chelsea was returned to Rosie’s home the following week, she said Rosie was waiting with her packed bags so Chelsea could instead stay with a friend. After turning 18, she went to live with Steven, who she said isn’t a bad person — despite his police record. Chelsea said, “I’m really happy to be here, and happier than I’ve been in years.”
After the interview was published on Tuesday, Rosie’s reps said Chelsea’s comments are “heartbreaking on every level.”
