WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. If you're here, 00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:03.859 you know the drill. We give you the shortcut 00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:06.700 to knowledge, not just random facts, but the 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:08.619 context, the connections, the stuff that makes 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:11.619 the whole story make sense. Right. And today 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:14.839 we're diving into, well, quite a story. Four 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:17.300 decades packed with stand -up comedy, massive 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:21.160 celebrity, intense conflict, and ending, remarkably, 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:24.219 with a quest for citizenship abroad. Our subject 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:27.420 is Rosie O'Donnell, born Roseanne O'Donnell, 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:31.679 1962. And when you look at her life, it's really 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.340 a study in contrasts, isn't it? Absolutely. You've 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:36.820 got huge mainstream success. We're talking daytime 00:00:36.820 --> 00:00:39.880 Emmys, major Hollywood films, running headlong 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.320 into these periods of just incredibly intense 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:45.380 public controversy. Often controversy she seemed 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:48.560 to actively court, you could say. It really is 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:50.359 this massive amount of information, this real 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.640 duality. Our mission today for you listening 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:55.420 is to try and navigate all that. We want to distill 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:57.320 the core achievements. Yeah, the big moments. 00:00:57.380 --> 00:00:59.340 The major pivots, both personal and political, 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.100 and maybe understand some of that foundational 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:04.439 stuff, the early life that really shaped her 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.799 public image. It's about clarity, context, you 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:10.579 know, understanding how someone goes from being 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:14.599 universally loved as the queen of nice to this 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.819 hyperpolitical figure who just recently actually 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:22.579 left the United States. OK, so. We've got a pretty 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:25.959 comprehensive stack here. Covers everything from 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:29.000 her early stand -up days, the big talk show era, 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.180 the, let's call them, turbulent years on The 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:34.420 View. Turbulent is one word for it, yeah. And, 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.719 of course, this very recent, very public move 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.760 to Ireland in 2025. And to really understand 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.319 the fire, you kind of have to look at the fuel, 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:42.840 right? So that means going right back to the 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:44.959 beginning, her earliest days. Okay, let's unpack 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.560 that foundation. Born, raised, come back to New 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:51.069 York. Yeah. Roman Catholic family. Irish -American 00:01:51.069 --> 00:01:53.750 roots. Deep Irish -American roots. Her father, 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:55.870 Edward Joseph O'Donnell, was actually an immigrant 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:58.569 himself, came over from County Donegal. And that 00:01:58.569 --> 00:02:01.969 detail about County Donegal becomes, well, surprisingly 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:04.370 relevant much later on, as we'll see. But that 00:02:04.370 --> 00:02:07.349 family life, it wasn't idyllic. Our sources are 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:10.689 pretty clear. It was marked by significant tragedy 00:02:10.689 --> 00:02:12.830 and also what's described as generational abuse. 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:15.689 Yeah, the first major blow was her mother, Roseanne 00:02:15.689 --> 00:02:18.689 Teresa. She died from breast cancer. Rosie was 00:02:18.689 --> 00:02:22.740 just about to turn 11. March 1973. Losing your 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:24.400 mom that young, that's obviously devastating. 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:28.120 But the sources indicate the trauma ran deeper 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.139 than that loss. They mention a really staggering 00:02:31.139 --> 00:02:33.639 history of family trauma. The phrase used is 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:37.620 generational abuse and alcoholism. And they explicitly 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.259 state that Rosie and her siblings were sexually 00:02:40.259 --> 00:02:42.960 abused by their father. Yeah. And knowing that, 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:44.719 I mean, it casts a different light on pretty 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.419 much everything that follows, doesn't it? It 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:49.359 really does. It provides this. psychological 00:02:49.359 --> 00:02:51.539 engine, maybe, the kind you often see in performers, 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:53.840 people who need that external validation. Exactly. 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:56.199 And look at the contrast in her adolescence. 00:02:56.300 --> 00:02:59.479 This private horror happening at home, but publicly. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.340 She was thriving socially. It's wild. Voted homecoming 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:05.919 queen, prom queen, senior class president, and 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.780 the key one, class clown. Class clown. That feels 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.439 significant, right? It suggests comedy wasn't 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.280 just fun for her. It was maybe a survival tool. 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:17.020 It's kind of social armor, yeah. Being the funny 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:20.759 one, doing imitations like Gilder Radner's Rosanna 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.259 Dana character, apparently it's a way to control 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:26.300 room, deflect pain, get people to like you. Makes 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.000 perfect sense. Comedy is a defense mechanism. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.400 And she didn't hang around, dropped out of college 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.099 pretty quick, and hit the stand -up circuit from 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:38.139 1979 to 84. Started when she was just 17. 17! 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.949 Wow. And then the big break, the thing that really 00:03:41.949 --> 00:03:45.710 took her from clubs to national awareness, that 00:03:45.710 --> 00:03:48.110 came in 84. Star Search. That was the launch 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.129 pad. Right. She wasn't just on it. She killed 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:52.169 it, right? Totally. Won five weeks in a row. 00:03:52.270 --> 00:03:54.789 That kind of national exposure, you just couldn't 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:56.569 buy it back then. And that led straight into 00:03:56.569 --> 00:03:59.110 TV roles. Yeah. Early stuff like, give me a break 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:02.810 in 86. Hosting VH1's stand -up spotlight a couple 00:04:02.810 --> 00:04:05.409 years later. Building momentum. And then the 00:04:05.409 --> 00:04:08.009 leap to movies. And not just small parts. A League 00:04:08.009 --> 00:04:11.250 of Their Own, 1992. That was massive. Huge. And 00:04:11.250 --> 00:04:14.110 look who she's alongside. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, 00:04:14.389 --> 00:04:17.110 Madonna. Right. And she and Madonna apparently 00:04:17.110 --> 00:04:19.589 hit it off immediately. Became lifelong friends. 00:04:19.870 --> 00:04:22.790 Yeah, that friendship endured. And her film career... 00:04:23.019 --> 00:04:25.240 Through the 90s, it's actually pretty diverse 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:26.879 when you look back. People kind of forget that 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.279 because the talk show became so huge. True. Like, 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.060 she was the sarcastic best friend in Sleepless 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:35.480 in Seattle. Perfect casting. Then, totally different, 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:38.279 Betty Rubble in the live -action Flintstones. 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:40.860 Huh, yeah. And more serious stuff, too, like 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.620 Beautiful Girls. Yeah. And voice work. Remember 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:46.100 Turk in Disney's Tarzan? Oh, yeah, the gorilla. 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.579 She had range. But what's maybe even more telling 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:51.579 than the roles she took are the ones she turned 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:54.740 down. Especially right before the talk show launched. 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:57.319 It feels like she was carefully crafting an image. 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:00.680 Definitely. Two big what -ifs stand out in the 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:02.420 sources. First, she was apparently seriously 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:05.060 considered for Elaine Benny's on Seinfeld. Wow. 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:07.720 Imagine that alternate timeline. Elaine played 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:10.399 by Rosie O'Donnell. Totally different show. But 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:12.600 the rejection that really speaks volumes, I think, 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.839 is Hocus Pocus. Ah, yes. Disney wanted her for 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.060 Mary Sanderson, the sort of goofy witch sister. 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:20.569 Kathy Nott Jimmy eventually got the part. And 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:22.470 the reason she turned it down, according to our 00:05:22.470 --> 00:05:25.810 sources, she said she explicitly refused to play 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:28.149 a character who was a frightening evil witch, 00:05:28.329 --> 00:05:30.970 especially one mean to kids. So connect that 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:33.730 back to the comedy's armor idea. Exactly. It 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:35.990 fits perfectly. Her whole public persona, her 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:39.290 coping mechanism maybe, was built on being likable, 00:05:39.410 --> 00:05:44.180 funny, relatable. Not scary, not evil. She was 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:45.920 building the character that was about to take 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.019 over daytime TV. The Queen of Nice, hashtag tag 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.459 three. The Queen of Nice and the Dawn of Activism, 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.720 1996 -2002. Right. So 1996, the Rosie O'Donnell 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.639 Show launches. Her own production company, Kid 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.660 Row Productions. And it wasn't just a success. 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:04.079 It was huge. A phenomenon. Yeah. Multiple daytime 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.079 Emmys. It really changed the feel of daytime 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:09.319 TV for a while. And that nickname stuck. queen 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:11.860 of nice. It felt like an antidote, didn't it, 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:13.800 to maybe some of the more cynical talk shows 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:16.120 or the trashier daytime stuff that was around 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:18.300 them. Totally. It was all upbeat energy, lighthearted 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:20.100 interviews. Remember the koosh balls she tossed 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:23.139 to the audience? Yeah, the koosh balls and the 00:06:23.139 --> 00:06:26.120 constant professed crush on Tom Cruise. Right. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.560 It made her seem accessible, friendly, celebrity 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.579 culture, but kind of defanged, you know. Less 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:34.980 edgy. And she really used that New York City 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.579 location to her advantage, became this massive 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:40.180 champion for Broadway. Oh, absolutely. Constantly 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:43.279 had casts on, promoting shows, giving away tickets. 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:46.480 She gave Broadway a huge boost, a real force 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:48.959 for the arts community there, using her platform 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.959 for generosity. That generosity was central to 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:55.459 the brand. But then things started to shift. 00:06:55.579 --> 00:06:58.199 That brand started to kind of bummed up against 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:00.600 her own developing political conscience. The 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.720 big pivot point seems to be 1999, after the Columbine 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:06.259 High School shootings. That event really seemed 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:08.560 to galvanize her. And the Queen of Nice persona, 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:11.699 well, it couldn't really contain the anger she 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:13.500 felt about that, could it? Not at all. She became 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:16.000 incredibly outspoken, a leading voice advocating 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.480 for gun control. Got heavily involved with things 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.500 like the Million Mom March. And her statements 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:23.360 weren't wishy -washy. For a daytime host, they 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:25.939 were really aggressive. Shockingly direct for 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:28.500 that time slot. She said, flat out on her show, 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.680 You are not allowed to own a gun. And if you 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:32.680 do own a gun, I think you should go to prison. 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:36.139 Wow. But here's the massive contradiction, the 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:38.319 thing people jumped on immediately. The Kmart 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.860 connection. Exactly. While she's saying this 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:43.600 on TV, she's also the multimillion dollar celebrity 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.860 spokesperson for Kmart. Which at that specific 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:50.139 time was the single largest volume retailer of 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:52.740 firearms in the entire U .S. I couldn't script 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:55.199 that irony better. The tension was just right 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:57.500 there out in the open. And it culminated in that. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.100 incredibly awkward, now infamous interview in 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.379 1999 with Tom Selleck. Oh, yeah. He was on to 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:06.819 promote a movie, The Love Letter, I think. Yeah, 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:09.459 but Selleck was also, you know, known for being 00:08:09.459 --> 00:08:12.079 an NRA member and doing some unpaid ads for them. 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.379 And Rosie didn't just ask him about it. She went 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:17.120 after him. Hard. It was an interrogation, really. 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:19.839 Pushing him on the NRA's stance on so -called 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.040 assault weapons, trying to get him to apologize 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.970 for being involved with them. Live on daytime 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:28.850 TV, Selick looked completely blindsided. So uncomfortable 00:08:28.850 --> 00:08:31.629 to watch. She ended it by saying something like 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:33.450 the conversation hadn't gone how she'd hoped. 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:36.009 Yeah, a massive understatement. It showed just 00:08:36.009 --> 00:08:38.629 how difficult it was to use that nice platform 00:08:38.629 --> 00:08:41.009 for what was becoming a pretty nasty political 00:08:41.009 --> 00:08:44.649 fight for her. Did the Kmart deal end soon after? 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:48.269 It did. Later that same year, 1999, there was 00:08:48.269 --> 00:08:51.090 huge backlash from gun rights groups, obviously. 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:53.970 The pressure mounted. And the contract ended. 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:57.389 But the fight had become personal, too. The sources 00:08:57.389 --> 00:08:59.690 mentioned security concerns. Yeah, this really 00:08:59.690 --> 00:09:01.730 underscores the reality of that kind of public 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:04.789 conflict. In 2000, because of threats against 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:07.169 her and her family, direct results of her gun 00:09:07.169 --> 00:09:09.870 control stance, her security team actually requested 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:11.950 that her bodyguard apply for a concealed carry 00:09:11.950 --> 00:09:14.210 permit. So the very thing she was fighting against, 00:09:14.350 --> 00:09:17.090 private citizens carrying guns, became something 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:19.490 her own team felt was necessary to protect her. 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:22.210 The irony is profound. It shows the real -world 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:24.570 cost, the personal risk involved in taking such 00:09:24.570 --> 00:09:27.309 a public, controversial stand. So she's already 00:09:27.309 --> 00:09:29.730 deep in political controversy. Then comes another 00:09:29.730 --> 00:09:32.330 major pivot, just as the show is ending in 2002, 00:09:32.669 --> 00:09:35.490 a deeply personal one. Her public coming out 00:09:35.490 --> 00:09:38.649 as a lesbian. The way she did it was very rosy. 00:09:38.870 --> 00:09:41.950 Strategic makeup. Seems like it. First, she played 00:09:41.950 --> 00:09:44.110 a lesbian mom on an episode of Will & Grace. 00:09:44.669 --> 00:09:46.889 Then, shortly after, during a stand -up gig, 00:09:47.009 --> 00:09:49.549 she just declared, I'm a dyke. But the reason 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:52.289 she gave, the main motivation, wasn't just about 00:09:52.289 --> 00:09:54.850 personal truth, was it? No, not primarily. She 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:57.909 framed it as explicitly political. It was a direct 00:09:57.909 --> 00:10:00.509 protest against Florida's laws at the time, which 00:10:00.509 --> 00:10:02.909 banned gay people from adopting children. Right. 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:05.590 She was already a foster and adoptive mom herself. 00:10:05.970 --> 00:10:08.389 So she was using her coming out, her celebrity, 00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:11.769 to shine a huge spotlight on that specific issue. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.059 Yeah. Affecting LGBTQ families. Which is powerful. 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:18.320 But inevitably, perhaps, it also caused some 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:21.240 friction even within the LGBTQ community. How 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.639 so? Well, some activists pointed to all those 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:26.100 years of her joking about being infatuated with 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.899 Tom Cruise on the show. They argued it felt deceptive, 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:30.600 like she'd been playing a role for mainstream 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.909 acceptance. Ah. The authenticity question. How 00:10:33.909 --> 00:10:36.190 did she respond? With a very characteristic, 00:10:36.490 --> 00:10:39.230 blunt comeback. She basically said about Cruz, 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:41.649 I said I wanted him to mow my lawn and bring 00:10:41.649 --> 00:10:43.809 me a lemonade. I never said I wanted to blow 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.179 him. Okay. Yeah, that sounds like her. Using 00:10:46.179 --> 00:10:48.840 humor to deflect criticism. Pretty much. But 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.019 despite that minor controversy, she was widely 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.600 recognized as a major advocate. The Advocate 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.919 magazine named her Person of the Year in 2002. 00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:58.919 She started writing a column for them. So when 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:01.679 her talk show ended later that year, the Queen 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:04.360 of Nice chapter was definitively closed. Absolutely. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.220 The activist was now front and center, and the 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:10.159 stage was set for even more fireworks. Hashtag 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.340 Chaktag 5E. The turbulent view and the age of 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:17.789 hyper -controversy. 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015. Okay, 00:11:17.850 --> 00:11:20.210 buckle up. Because the next chapter, starting 00:11:20.210 --> 00:11:23.029 around 2006, it's not just controversial. It's 00:11:23.029 --> 00:11:25.629 like controversy squared, hyper -controversy. 00:11:25.629 --> 00:11:27.429 Yeah, this is when she joins The View. She takes 00:11:27.429 --> 00:11:29.950 over from Meredith Vieira as moderator in September 00:11:29.950 --> 00:11:33.830 2006. And this move, it wasn't just a job change 00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:36.230 for her. It arguably helped change the whole 00:11:36.230 --> 00:11:39.279 landscape of daytime TV. What do you mean? While 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.799 the network probably knew what they were getting, 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.259 to some extent, Rosie immediately brought this 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:46.259 huge buzz factor, as the sources call it. The 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:48.840 show became much more focused on news, on arguments. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.080 Exactly. And the numbers proved it worked, at 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.820 least initially. Ratings shot up 27 % in her 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.919 first year. Record highs for the show. She basically 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:01.779 demonstrated that conflict could sell, even in 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:04.600 that traditionally softer daytime slot. It kind 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:06.500 of paved the way for the sort of Partson shout 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:08.679 fest we see everywhere now, maybe. You could 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:12.080 definitely argue that. She and Joy Behar formed 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.720 this strong liberal pairing, constantly taking 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.379 on the Bush administration, the Iraq War. Which 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:19.480 inevitably put them on a collision course with 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:22.120 the show's conservative voice at the time. Elizabeth 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.340 Hasselbeck. Constantly sparring. But Rosie's 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:28.019 controversies often went way beyond typical political 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.639 debate. She took aim at institutions. Like the 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.500 Catholic Church comments. Yeah, that was back 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:35.139 in 2003, even before The View, talking about 00:12:35.139 --> 00:12:37.840 the abuse scandals. She said she hoped the church 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:40.039 got sued so much they'd have to melt down some 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:42.259 of the gold toilets in the Pope's Vatican to 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:44.440 pay. Oof. Yeah, that's going to generate heat. 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.919 And she didn't stop there, right? On The View 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:50.350 itself. Nope. 2007, after a Supreme Court ruling 00:12:50.350 --> 00:12:52.950 on abortion, she jumps into this whole separation 00:12:52.950 --> 00:12:56.450 of church and state thing by asking, rhetorically, 00:12:56.669 --> 00:12:59.850 how many Supreme Court judges are Catholic? Again, 00:13:00.029 --> 00:13:03.210 deliberately provocative, designed to get a reaction. 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:05.669 Absolutely. These weren't accidental slips of 00:13:05.669 --> 00:13:08.169 the tongue. They felt calculated. But sometimes 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:12.149 the provocation backfired spectacularly, like 00:13:12.149 --> 00:13:15.470 the racial gaffe in December 2006. Oh, the Ching 00:13:15.470 --> 00:13:18.200 Chong incident. Yeah. Trying to imitate Chinese 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:20.639 newscasters, she used that phrase repeatedly. 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:23.559 The backlash was intense, especially from Asian 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:26.720 -American groups who felt betrayed by someone 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.460 seen as a progressive ally. And her apology didn't 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:31.500 really help, did it? Not really. It got heavily 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:33.799 criticized. Time called it a pseudo -apology. 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:35.940 She claimed she didn't know the phrase was that 00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:37.860 offensive, comparing ignorance levels to the 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:39.919 N -word. Which is already shaky ground. Right. 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:42.059 But then she kind of undercut the whole thing 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:44.799 by adding this weird disclaimer, almost joking, 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:46.879 that she'd probably do something like that again, 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.340 probably in the next week, not on purpose. Hmm. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.480 It reads as dismissive, doesn't it? Like she 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:55.539 couldn't fully own the impact of her words. A 00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:57.720 pattern, maybe. It does seem like a pattern. 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:01.299 That inability to maybe filter or to fully grapple 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:03.960 with the consequences of her rhetoric. And that 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.340 tendency then led directly into the defining 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:09.360 feud of her career. The one that really previewed 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.960 our modern political climate. The war with Donald 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.960 Trump. It kicked off in December 2006. Remember 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:18.159 the Miss USA scandal with Tara Conner? Trump 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.600 made this big show of reinstating her after some 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.220 controversy. Right. Rosie went after him on The 00:14:23.220 --> 00:14:25.509 View, basically accusing him. of exploiting the 00:14:25.509 --> 00:14:28.029 situation for publicity and questioned his moral 00:14:28.029 --> 00:14:31.250 standing to do so oh yeah pointed to his multiple 00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:34.250 marital affairs and questionable business bankruptcies 00:14:34.250 --> 00:14:37.529 now this is 2006 trump remember reality tv star 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:40.730 tabloid guy not yet the political figure but 00:14:40.730 --> 00:14:43.840 his reaction was Something else. Instantaneous, 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.299 vicious, a total media assault. He threatened 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:48.480 to sue her, never actually did. But he hurled 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.639 these incredibly personal insults, called her 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:53.200 names, attacked her appearance. And made that 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.100 really chilling comment about her partner at 00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:57.740 the time, Kelly Carpenter. Yeah, suggesting he'd 00:14:57.740 --> 00:14:59.340 send one of my friends to pick up her girlfriend 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:02.159 Kelly and I think it would be easy. Just deeply 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.639 unpleasant, threatening stuff. Way beyond typical 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:08.659 celebrity spats. And this put Barbara Walters, 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:12.059 the show's creator and sort of den mother. in 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:14.200 a really tough spot. Totally caught in the middle. 00:15:14.500 --> 00:15:16.820 Rosie felt Barbara didn't defend her strongly 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:19.440 enough against Trump's attacks. Sources say there 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.539 was a major blow up between them in a dressing 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:25.820 room over it. Loyalty betrayal. All that raw 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:28.480 emotion. So the tension is just ratcheting up. 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:32.100 And it all boils over in May 2007 during these 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:34.779 really intense on -air debates about the Iraq 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:37.519 war. This is where she steps into really controversial 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.399 territory regarding 9 -11 truthiness. Right. 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.100 She started questioning the official account 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:44.419 of the World Trade Center collapse, saying, I 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:46.279 do believe that it's the first time in history 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.580 that fire has ever melted steel. Which, you know, 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:50.659 immediately aligns her with 9 -11 conspiracy 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:53.240 theories. And she didn't stop there with Iraq. 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:56.419 No, she challenged the whole narrative, asking 00:15:56.419 --> 00:16:00.240 her co -hosts, 655 ,000 Iraqi civilians dead. 00:16:00.419 --> 00:16:03.100 Who are the terrorists? And that line, who are 00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:06.320 the terrorists, was immediately seized upon by 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.320 conservative media as her equating U .S. soldiers 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.000 with terrorists. Whether she meant it that way 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.679 or not, that's how it landed. And that led straight 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:17.700 to the final explosive confrontation with Elizabeth 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:20.659 Hasselbeck. Yeah. The core of that argument was 00:16:20.659 --> 00:16:23.559 Rosie feeling that Elizabeth, who she considered 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.659 a friend, wouldn't defend her against those specific 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:29.960 conservative attacks. She felt betrayed. But 00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:31.580 the actual breaking point, the thing that made 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:34.159 her walk away, wasn't just the argument itself. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.240 No. According to the sources, it was a production 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.179 choice. During that heated exchange, the show 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:42.139 used a really dramatic split -screen visual. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.700 Rosie on one side, Elizabeth on the other. Pure 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:48.580 visual conflict. And Rosie saw that as? As a 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:51.299 setup. She felt the producers deliberately chose 00:16:51.299 --> 00:16:54.639 that visual to maximize the drama, to egg her 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:57.299 on, as she put it, rather than facilitating any 00:16:57.299 --> 00:17:00.279 kind of real resolution. She felt used for ratings. 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:02.860 So she quit. Just like that. Two days later, 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:05.220 she was gone. Walked away from her contract early. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:07.299 But in a way, it proved her point about the ratings, 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.980 didn't it? Ironically, yes. ABC News reported 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:13.680 that those specific arguments, that period of 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.680 intense conflict, gave The View its best ratings 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:20.680 ever. Conflict sells. She did eventually return 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:25.099 years later. Briefly. Fall of 2014. New panel 00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:27.740 with Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez, Nicole Wallace. 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:29.599 But it didn't last long that time either. No, 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:31.920 only about five months. She left again in February 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:35.660 2015. Cited health reasons, personal issues, 00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:38.500 maybe the fire wasn't there, or maybe that format 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:40.619 just wasn't right for her anymore. So, okay, 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:42.740 conflict seems to be the theme, both on screen 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.140 and off. When she stepped away from hosting, 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:48.220 she poured that same intensity into other ventures, 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:50.990 right? business, philanthropy. Yeah, and with 00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:53.289 pretty mixed results. You see this pattern of 00:17:53.289 --> 00:17:55.869 really ambitious projects, some marked by spectacular 00:17:55.869 --> 00:17:58.829 failures and legal fights, and others by incredible 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:01.490 dedication and success, usually tied to her personal 00:18:01.490 --> 00:18:03.789 passions. The Rosie Magazine venture is a prime 00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:05.589 example of the former, isn't it? Yeah. Launched 00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:07.390 in 2000. Right. Partnered with the publishers 00:18:07.390 --> 00:18:09.910 of McCall's. The idea was to directly compete 00:18:09.910 --> 00:18:12.329 with Oprah's O Magazine, which was massive. And 00:18:12.329 --> 00:18:15.089 it started well. Strong launch, yeah. Circulation 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:17.950 hit like 3 .5 million, but the partnerships just 00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:23.670 imploded fast. Over what? Control. Specifically, 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:27.170 editorial control. Rosie wanted final say. The 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:29.730 publishers resisted. Classic power struggle. 00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:33.069 She quit in 2002, only two years in. And then 00:18:33.069 --> 00:18:35.250 came the lawsuits. Oh, yeah. Both sides sued 00:18:35.250 --> 00:18:37.150 each other for breach of contract. It went to 00:18:37.150 --> 00:18:40.690 trial in 2003. Very public, very messy. And that 00:18:40.690 --> 00:18:43.519 trial produced another one of those just... Jaw 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.759 -dropping rosy moment. The cancer comment, yeah. 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:48.559 Under cross -examination, talking to a former 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.200 colleague who happened to be a breast cancer 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:54.099 survivor. She said... What was it exactly? She 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:56.079 told her essentially that people who lie get 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.619 sick and they get cancer. Oh my God. Linking 00:18:58.619 --> 00:19:01.400 lying to cancer to a survivor's face in open 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:03.880 court. Just an unbelievable lapse. She apologized 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:05.759 the next day, said it came from her own trauma 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.779 around her mother's death from cancer, but... 00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:10.450 The damage was immense. How did the lawsuit end? 00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:12.529 The judge eventually threw the whole thing out, 00:19:12.609 --> 00:19:14.509 dismissed both cases, said neither side deserved 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:16.710 damages, basically called the whole venture a 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:19.069 wash, a failure on both sides. Okay, so that 00:19:19.069 --> 00:19:21.309 was one big swing and a miss. What about Taboo, 00:19:21.349 --> 00:19:24.589 the musical? Another passion project. She brought 00:19:24.589 --> 00:19:27.549 that Boy George musical to Broadway in 2003, 00:19:27.829 --> 00:19:30.710 championed it heavily, put her own money in. 00:19:30.990 --> 00:19:32.910 But it didn't fare well commercially either. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:35.599 No, mostly bad reviews. Closed pretty quickly 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.680 in 2004 after only about 100 performances. A 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:40.779 financial disappointment for her. But here's 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:42.160 where you see the other side of the pattern, 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.339 maybe. Her reaction to Taboo's failure was different. 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.039 Totally different. Despite losing money and getting 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:51.019 panned, Rosie called producing Taboo the most 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:53.680 fulfilling experience of her entire career. So 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.720 the fulfillment came from the act of creation, 00:19:56.059 --> 00:19:59.319 the passion, not necessarily the commercial success 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:01.609 or lack of conflict. Seems like it. When her 00:20:01.609 --> 00:20:03.250 ventures failed, it was often about business 00:20:03.250 --> 00:20:05.970 disputes or market realities. When they succeeded 00:20:05.970 --> 00:20:08.109 or when she felt fulfilled, it was because they 00:20:08.109 --> 00:20:10.390 aligned with her core values and activism. Which 00:20:10.390 --> 00:20:12.869 leads us perfectly to Our Family Vacation. Exactly. 00:20:13.150 --> 00:20:16.130 Co -founded in 2003, and the mission was crystal 00:20:16.130 --> 00:20:18.940 clear. Deeply personal for her. Providing the 00:20:18.940 --> 00:20:21.980 very first all gay and lesbian family vacation 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:24.859 packages. Revolutionary at the time. The first 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:28.480 cruise they did in 2004 had 1 ,600 passengers, 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.740 including 600 kids. It was about creating a safe, 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:35.400 affirming space. More than just a vacation, right? 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.460 They tackled issues. Yeah. Held discussions about 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:39.859 adoption, surrogacy, things that were still really 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:42.420 challenging for LGBTQ families to navigate openly 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:44.859 back then. She wasn't just talking about support. 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:47.410 She was building the infrastructure. for it using 00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:50.529 her resources and her philanthropy goes way beyond 00:20:50.529 --> 00:20:53.710 that one venture the scale is huge immense remember 00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:57.069 her memoir find me from 2002 she took the entire 00:20:57.069 --> 00:20:59.430 three million dollar advance from that book three 00:20:59.430 --> 00:21:01.230 million dollars and used it to start her for 00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:03.509 all kids foundation which according to sources 00:21:03.509 --> 00:21:06.009 has given out over 22 million dollars in grants 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:09.410 since then Wow and she had some creative fundraising 00:21:09.410 --> 00:21:12.440 methods too huh Yeah, the Listerine story is 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:15.220 classic Rosie. Apparently, Scope, a Listerine 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:18.119 competitor, ran some ad calling her unkissable 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.299 or something like that. Okay. So instead of just 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:22.200 getting mad, she partnered with Listerine. They 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:25.380 agreed to donate $1 ,000 to her foundation every 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:28.000 single time a guest kissed her on the Rosie O'Donnell 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.059 show. No way. That's brilliant. Turning an insult 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:33.940 into cash for charity. Totally. Raise over $350 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:37.099 ,000 just from that one stunt. And overall, the 00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:39.769 giving is substantial. Sources report she's donated 00:21:39.769 --> 00:21:42.910 well over $100 million in total throughout her 00:21:42.910 --> 00:21:45.170 career. Including putting a massive chunk of 00:21:45.170 --> 00:21:47.650 money from one contract straight into a trust. 00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:50.089 Yeah, $50 million from a five -year contract, 00:21:50.369 --> 00:21:53.250 put it into an irrevocable trust just for charitable 00:21:53.250 --> 00:21:55.650 giving. Whatever else you say about her, her 00:21:55.650 --> 00:21:58.190 financial commitment to her causes is undeniable. 00:21:58.450 --> 00:22:00.730 Shifting gears a bit, let's talk about her health. 00:22:01.089 --> 00:22:03.630 Because the sources draw a direct line from that 00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:06.369 early trauma we discussed to her ongoing struggles, 00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:08.980 both mental and physical. It's a through line, 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:11.400 yeah. She's been open about dealing with major 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:14.480 depressive disorder, PTSD, severe anxiety. And 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.200 she explicitly connects it back. Yes. She's publicly 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.539 attributed her mental health issues and also 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:22.339 body image struggles directly to the sexual abuse 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:24.519 she suffered from her father as a child. That 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:27.130 armor of comedy, like we said. It covered the 00:22:27.130 --> 00:22:29.210 wounds but didn't heal them. Seems that way. 00:22:29.329 --> 00:22:31.390 And physically, she's had some serious scares, 00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:33.930 too. There was a bad staph infection back in 00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:36.829 2000. Almost lost her hand, apparently. But the 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:39.470 big one was the heart attack in 2012. Yeah, August 00:22:39.470 --> 00:22:42.829 2012. Found out she had a major artery, the widow 00:22:42.829 --> 00:22:46.390 maker, 99 % blocked. needed a stent immediately. 00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:48.769 That sounds like a massive wake -up call. Absolutely. 00:22:49.150 --> 00:22:51.769 It prompted a complete lifestyle overhaul. She 00:22:51.769 --> 00:22:53.849 became a big advocate for preventative heart 00:22:53.849 --> 00:22:57.009 health, adopted a strict whole foods, plant -based 00:22:57.009 --> 00:22:59.410 diet following Dr. Esselstyn's work. She stuck 00:22:59.410 --> 00:23:01.750 with that. Seems so, though she also manages 00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:04.630 type 2 diabetes. But that heart attack was a 00:23:04.630 --> 00:23:06.750 clear turning point in focusing on her physical 00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:09.509 health. And we also see her mental health intersecting 00:23:09.509 --> 00:23:11.609 with the political climate later on. The sources 00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:13.769 mentioned struggles with alcohol. Yeah, she'd 00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:16.049 given up drinking back in 2008, partly for weight 00:23:16.049 --> 00:23:19.109 loss. But she revealed that after the 2016 election 00:23:19.109 --> 00:23:21.730 with Trump winning. The old adversary. Right. 00:23:21.869 --> 00:23:24.390 She said she became very depressed and started 00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:26.490 over drinking again as a way to cope with that 00:23:26.490 --> 00:23:30.410 political reality. A stark reminder of how intertwined 00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:32.650 her personal well -being in the political world. 00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:40.049 That intertwining of the personal and political 00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:42.329 is really evident in her family life, too, isn't 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:45.890 it? Her relationships, her kids, it's all bound 00:23:45.890 --> 00:23:48.470 up with her activism. Absolutely. She adopted 00:23:48.470 --> 00:23:52.450 her first son, Parker, way back in 1995, even 00:23:52.450 --> 00:23:54.970 before the talk show really took off. He later 00:23:54.970 --> 00:23:57.710 went to Valley Forge Military Academy, interestingly 00:23:57.710 --> 00:24:00.650 enough. And her first marriage. to Kelly Carpenter 00:24:00.650 --> 00:24:03.650 in 2004, that wasn't just a private ceremony. 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:05.650 No, it was a deliberate political statement. 00:24:05.710 --> 00:24:07.490 They got married in San Francisco during that 00:24:07.490 --> 00:24:09.910 brief period when Mayor Gavin Newsom was issuing 00:24:09.910 --> 00:24:12.849 licenses to same -sex couples. Specifically as 00:24:12.849 --> 00:24:16.109 a challenge to George W. Bush. Explicitly, defiance 00:24:16.109 --> 00:24:18.329 against his push for a constitutional amendment 00:24:18.329 --> 00:24:21.349 banning gay marriage, using her wedding as activism. 00:24:21.769 --> 00:24:23.710 But that marriage didn't legally stand for long, 00:24:23.829 --> 00:24:26.509 did it? No, the California Supreme Court nullified 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:29.349 those marriages later that same year. Rosie and 00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:32.069 Kelly separated in 2007. Her second marriage 00:24:32.069 --> 00:24:34.529 was to Michelle Rounds. Yes, married in 2012. 00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:37.250 They adopted a daughter, Dakota, together, but 00:24:37.250 --> 00:24:40.230 they divorced in 2015. And then, very sadly, 00:24:40.369 --> 00:24:43.549 Michelle Rounds died by suicide in 2017. Just 00:24:43.549 --> 00:24:46.089 layers of difficulty and tragedy there. Which 00:24:46.089 --> 00:24:48.109 brings us to maybe the most difficult recent 00:24:48.109 --> 00:24:50.089 development involving her daughter, Chelsea. 00:24:50.349 --> 00:24:53.049 Yeah, this is tough stuff. And it really seems 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:55.900 to highlight the... ongoing impact of that generational 00:24:55.900 --> 00:24:57.940 trauma we talked about earlier. People might 00:24:57.940 --> 00:25:00.059 remember Chelsea went missing for a time back 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:03.039 in 2015 that made headlines. But the situation 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:06.230 described in late 2024 sources is. Much more 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:08.769 serious. Extremely serious. Arrests in Marinette 00:25:08.769 --> 00:25:11.490 County, Wisconsin. The charges listed are harrowing. 00:25:11.529 --> 00:25:14.210 Child neglect, domestic abuse, maintaining a 00:25:14.210 --> 00:25:17.309 drug trafficking facility, meth possession, illegally 00:25:17.309 --> 00:25:20.470 getting prescriptions, THC possession. And the 00:25:20.470 --> 00:25:22.349 reported details about the conditions where her 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:25.490 own child, Rosie's grandchild, was found. Just 00:25:25.490 --> 00:25:29.349 awful. The sources mention crack pipes, feces, 00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:31.509 and garbage in the house where the 11 -month 00:25:31.509 --> 00:25:34.150 -old was living. It's a devastating picture. 00:25:34.529 --> 00:25:38.589 Suggests that cycle of trauma, addiction, instability. 00:25:39.309 --> 00:25:42.569 It's continuing despite Rosie's fame and resources. 00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:45.309 A deeply private struggle playing out in the 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:47.930 most public way imaginable. And it's against 00:25:47.930 --> 00:25:51.150 this backdrop of personal crisis that Rosie makes 00:25:51.150 --> 00:25:53.049 her biggest political statement yet. The move 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:56.609 to Ireland. Expatriation. Right. March 2025. 00:25:56.910 --> 00:25:59.430 Yeah. Just a couple of months after Donald Trump's 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:02.089 second inauguration. She announces she had actually 00:26:02.089 --> 00:26:04.250 moved to Ireland two months prior with her younger 00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:06.410 child, Clay. And her reasoning was explicitly 00:26:06.410 --> 00:26:09.490 political. She cited heartbreak despair over 00:26:09.490 --> 00:26:11.390 the U .S. political direction, said they felt 00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:13.089 they needed to take care of ourselves and make 00:26:13.089 --> 00:26:16.289 some hard decisions. A complete physical disengagement 00:26:16.289 --> 00:26:18.089 for the American political scene she'd been so 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:20.730 central to for decades. And she's making it official, 00:26:20.829 --> 00:26:23.109 right? Applying for citizenship. Yes, through 00:26:23.109 --> 00:26:25.869 dissent. Leveraging her father's roots, remember 00:26:25.869 --> 00:26:27.990 Edward Joseph O'Donnell from County Donegal. 00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:30.490 Ah, there it is. Full circle. Using that heritage 00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:32.890 to find a new home. Initially rented near Dublin 00:26:32.890 --> 00:26:36.609 in Halth, but then moved. Yeah, sources say she 00:26:36.609 --> 00:26:38.930 moved to Sandymount, another Dublin coastal suburb. 00:26:38.990 --> 00:26:41.869 The reason given was very practical, very personal. 00:26:42.450 --> 00:26:44.789 Finding a special school for her daughter, Dakota, 00:26:45.130 --> 00:26:48.349 who is autistic. So seeking refuge, seeking support 00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:51.009 for her family. But even across the Atlantic, 00:26:51.230 --> 00:26:53.769 the conflict found her. Of course it did. In 00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:56.849 July 2025, who weighs in but former President 00:26:56.849 --> 00:26:59.910 Trump? Naturally. Publicly threatening to try 00:26:59.910 --> 00:27:02.450 and revoke her U .S. birthright citizenship because 00:27:02.450 --> 00:27:04.430 she left and criticized him. It's almost surreal. 00:27:04.809 --> 00:27:07.849 Even in self -imposed exile, that defining feud, 00:27:07.970 --> 00:27:10.950 that conflict she was so much a part of, continues 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:14.670 to shape her story. Hashtag tag tag seven, conclusion 00:27:14.670 --> 00:27:17.410 and provocative thought. So when you pull back 00:27:17.410 --> 00:27:19.670 and look at the whole arc. these four decades. 00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:22.710 It really is a story of extremes, isn't it? Molded 00:27:22.710 --> 00:27:26.150 by that intense early trauma, the loss, the abuse. 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:28.369 Which maybe necessitated the creation of that 00:27:28.369 --> 00:27:30.950 first public persona, the queen of nice, that 00:27:30.950 --> 00:27:33.029 friendly, funny armor. Yeah, but that armor got 00:27:33.029 --> 00:27:35.109 shed pretty quickly, didn't it? Swapped for the 00:27:35.109 --> 00:27:37.910 heavy artillery of the political activist, the 00:27:37.910 --> 00:27:40.789 commentator. And she wielded that platform with 00:27:40.789 --> 00:27:43.849 real conviction on issues she cared about. LGBTQ 00:27:43.849 --> 00:27:48.089 adoption rights, gun control. pouring huge amounts 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:51.230 of her own money, over $100 million, into backing 00:27:51.230 --> 00:27:54.049 those causes. Her successes often came from that 00:27:54.049 --> 00:27:56.970 place of care. Definitely. Yet, at the same time, 00:27:57.009 --> 00:28:00.049 she engaged in rhetoric that was undeniably inflammatory, 00:28:00.349 --> 00:28:02.630 often seemed ill -considered, even reckless. 00:28:02.950 --> 00:28:05.589 The comments about the Catholic Church, the cancer 00:28:05.589 --> 00:28:08.430 comment during the trial, the 9 -11 steal comments. 00:28:08.490 --> 00:28:10.809 She didn't just participate in conflict TV, she 00:28:10.809 --> 00:28:13.470 arguably helped pioneer it on daytime. Those 00:28:13.470 --> 00:28:15.809 arguments on The View, especially with Hasselbeck, 00:28:15.890 --> 00:28:18.650 became must -see TV precisely because they were 00:28:18.650 --> 00:28:21.390 so explosive. Ratings gold. She understood the 00:28:21.390 --> 00:28:24.150 market for partisan conflict and she leaned into 00:28:24.150 --> 00:28:27.009 it hard. Her later career absolutely thrived 00:28:27.009 --> 00:28:29.369 on the heat, the friction, the debates she ignited. 00:28:29.430 --> 00:28:31.690 She was a central figure in defining that divisive 00:28:31.690 --> 00:28:34.410 tone in American culture. For decades. And now. 00:28:34.890 --> 00:28:37.289 She's physically left, abandoned the arena, moved 00:28:37.289 --> 00:28:39.450 to Ireland, citing political despair, needing 00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:41.670 to protect herself and her family. Fleeing the 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:43.869 very climate she was instrumental in creating 00:28:43.869 --> 00:28:46.109 and amplifying. Which brings us to our final 00:28:46.109 --> 00:28:48.930 thought. Something for you, the listener, to 00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:50.789 chew on, based on everything we've just laid 00:28:50.789 --> 00:28:53.400 out from the sources. Yeah. Considering how much 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:55.680 of her later career was built on generating, 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:59.000 participating in, and frankly, benefiting from 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:01.599 public political conflict. Does a celebrity who 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:04.680 spent decades defining and thriving on that kind 00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:07.880 of warfare shaping that very climate? Does she 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.359 then possess the right to simply step away, move 00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:13.359 abroad, seek citizenship elsewhere, citing heartbreak 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:15.220 over the state of the country she herself helped 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:17.759 to shape? Is it a valid retreat or an abdication 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:19.160 of sorts? Something to think about.