Rosie O’Donnell’s daughter Chelsea facing ‘scary’ prison sentence
Rosie O’Donnell is seeking support for her daughter Chelsea Belle O’Donnell after she was sentenced to prison for violating the terms of her probation from a 2024 drug case.
On Wednesday, the comedian took to Instagram to share a childhood photo of her second-oldest while asking her followers for “prayers.”
“My child Chelsea Belle — before addiction took over her life,” O’Donnell captioned the photo from 2006. “I loved her then [and] I love her now as she faces a scary future. Prayers welcomed.”
A Wisconsin judge made the decision to serve Chelsea prison time after the 28-year-old’s probation was violated due to sexual assault allegations, court documents obtained by Us Weekly reveal. The filing did not provide further details.
An official from the Marinette County Treatment Drug Court Program also told the court that Chelsea had shown little signs of progress, stating that the facts surrounding the case have been “deemed sufficient grounds to warrant [Chelsea’s] termination” from the program.
Us Weekly confirmed that Chelsea has been in custody since Sept. 9. She was sentenced to prison last Wednesday, though the length of time is unclear.
“I have compassion for those struggling with addiction — Chelsea was born into addiction and it has been a painful journey for her and her children,” O’Donnell said in a statement to the outlet. “We continue to love and support her through these horrible times.”
Chelsea, who was adopted by O’Donnell as a baby, has had her fair share of run-ins with the law over the past several years. In 2024 alone, she was arrested three times between September and December.
In September of that year, she was locked up on felony charges, including child neglect and possession of methamphetamine.
After posting bail, she was back in custody just a month later after being charged with bail jumping, resisting or obstructing an officer and possessing methamphetamine. By November, Chelsea faced a third arrest, that time for similar felony charges including possession of narcotics.
After the multiple arrests, the mother of four was handed a sentence of six years probation and warned that any violation would result in prison time.
The conditions required that she maintain sobriety, have no contact with drug users or dealers, no possession of alcohol or any controlled substance without a valid prescription, and no possession of firearms.
O’Donnell has previously discussed her daughter’s struggles with addiction on TikTok.
“For all the people who told me they were going through something similar with a child or a spouse or a brother or a lover, thank you for making me feel less alone,” she said last October. “I think it’s hard to be a public person sometimes, and it’s hard for the children of those public people, but it is what it is in the culture today. And here we are. So that’s that.”