Rosie O’Donnell has been a cultural icon for decades. After rising as a stand-up comedian in the 90s, Rosie began hosting her talk show The Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1996. After that show ended, she had a brief stint on The View, and she’s continued to make acting appearances, host her radio shows, and much more.
In 2002, Rosie made headlines when she came out as a lesbian while performing during a cancer benefit event. Since coming out, she’s been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and she’s had quite a bit of attention for her relationships over the years. Since coming out, Rosie has been married twice, and she’s a mom to five kids. Rosie is also set to appear on Celebrity Family Feud on Wednesday, December 13. Find out more about her relationships here.
Kelli Carpenter
Rosie married her first wife Kelli Carpenter in 2004. After they tied the knot, Kelli adopted Rosie’s son Parker, whom the comedian had first adopted back in 1995. Before getting married, the pair adopted another son and a daughter. They also welcomed their daughter Vivienne, via artificial insemination, per Closer Weekly.
Kelli is very successful in her own right. She’s a former TV executive, and she co-founded R Family Vacations in 2003. The organization still operates, and it specializes in family cruises for members of the LGBTQ+ community. It was also featured in the HBO documentary All Aboard.
Unfortunately, Kelli and Rosie split up in 2007. Since the divorce, Kelli got remarried. She wed Anna Steele, who she met on one of the R Family Vacations cruises, in 2013, per The New York Times. Despite the split, Kelli and Rosie are reportedly still close for their kids. “What makes a family is love, and we all love each other,” Rosie said during a red carpet appearance in 2010, per People. “We’re gonna stay together and take care of each other as a family unit.”
Michelle Rounds
A few years after her split from Kelli, Rosie got engaged to her second wife Michelle Rounds in 2011. Michelle was a search consultant. The couple got married in an intimate ceremony in 2012, and they adopted a daughter Dakota in 2013. Rosie filed for divorce from her in 2015, and the two of them had a lengthy custody battle surrounding Dakota. They settled in 2016, and their divorce was finalized.
In September 2017, Michelle died by suicide. After her ex-wife’s tragic death, Rosie mourned her passing in a statement to People. “I am saddened to hear about this terrible tragedy,” she said. “Mental illness is a very serious issue affecting many families. My thoughts and prayers go out to Michelle’s family, her wife and their child.”
Engagement to Elizabeth Rooney
After her split from Michelle, Rosie had another romance with boxer and army vet Elizabeth Rooney in 2017. In October 2018, the pair got engaged. Rosie gushed about her then-fiancée in an interview with People at the time. “She lives in Boston now and I live here in New York. It’s been a long-distance thing. It’s been great. I think she’s a wonderful woman,” she said. “She’s very much an equal, she’s very much her own person and loves what she does. She’s a pretty unbelievable young woman.”
Unfortunately, the pair called it quits in November 2019, per People. After the split, she deleted many photos of Elizabeth from her social media.
Rosie’s Relationship With Aimee Hauer
About three years after calling off her engagement to Elizabeth, Rosie revealed that she was dating massage therapist Aimee Hauer in June 2022 in honor of Pride Month. Just four months after going public though, the pair reportedly broke up, per Us Weekly.