Rosie O’Donnell’s public persona is both obnoxious and downright abusive. However, it seems her mania and belligerence is not merely confined to the television world as her adopted daughter details the pattern of abusive behavior with which she had dealt for years.
Rosie O’Donnell has cut off ties with adopted daughter Chelsea and won’t let her have any contact with her younger siblings until she agrees to a year-long therapy program thousands of miles from home, the teen revealed in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online.
The 18-year-old previously opened up to Daily Mail Online about how she felt like an outsider to her family after being sent away from her Nyack, New York home to a therapeutic boarding school in Utah for three years when she turned 13.
Now the teen says that she does not want to repeat the experience with the new program, which is based in Texas, and is pleading for an opportunity to address her problems nearer to home – and be allowed to see her siblings, Blake, 15, Vivienne, 12, and two-year-old Dakota.
Chelsea said she takes medication for anxiety and depression and admits she needs a therapist to help her deal with emotional problems. But she is desperate for another solution rather than being sent away.
She revealed that the stress she has been under has contributed to a recent spate of hospital visits. She has felt physically sick, had abdominal pain and episodes of dizziness, at one point while she was driving.
She said: ‘A big reason I’ve been so stressed lately is because I’ve been in the hospital a lot.’
‘Rosie and my other mom Kelli [Carpenter, Rosie’s ex-wife] want me to go to Texas for an independent living, therapy program. For the first 60 days it’s very restricted, you can’t do anything and it’s just strictly therapy. After that you move into an independent living program where you get your own apartment and you can have your own car.
‘People could come visit me but I don’t know if I’d be able to go home.
‘They sent me away from when I was 13 until I was 17. This is my choice and I don’t feel like I need it at this point. I’ve been in so much therapy in the last couple of years that I know everything they’re going to teach me.
‘I’m just trying to figure out other aspects of my life, like getting a job and finishing school. I can get a therapist on the side.’
Although her moms first brought up the program with Chelsea in the summer she said that a week ago Rosie issued an ultimatum through text messages which the teen shared with Daily Mail Online.
Rosie texted: ‘go to texas – this is the last offer of any kind of help. ever.’
Chelsea replied: ‘Then I don’t want ur help.’
Rosie then wrote: ‘u never have – go find another stranger to take care of u – till they kick u out – or u run away.
‘enjoy the rest of ur life. Goodbye.’