Rosie O’Donnell’s eldest daughter, Chelsea Bell O’Donnell, is currently facing legal issues, according to court records. Chelsea has been arrested twice in the past month on drug-related offenses and other charges, including child neglect. She is scheduled to appear in court again in November but has not yet entered a plea or publicly commented on her arrests. There is no attorney or representative listed for her in the Wisconsin .
Chelsea, a mother of four—5-year-old Skyler, 3-year-old Riley, 2-year-old Avery, and 11-month-old Atlas—was first arrested in September in Marinette County, Wisconsin. The charges against her include felony counts of child neglect, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and possession of methamphetamine. She also faced misdemeanor charges for possession of THC, illegally obtained prescriptions, drug paraphernalia, and domestic abuse.
On October 14, prosecutors added more charges, including felony possession of methamphetamine and narcotic drugs, as well as bail jumping. Additionally, she faces misdemeanor charges for drug paraphernalia possession and resisting or obstructing an officer.
In response to the troubling news, Rosie shared a throwback photo of Chelsea with one of her children as a newborn on Instagram. In the October 19 post, she captioned it, “Chelsea is in the news today. This is a photo from a better time.” Rosie adopted Chelsea in 1997 with her ex-wife Kelly Carpenter, shortly after Chelsea was born. The former couple also shares three other children: 29-year-old Parker, 25-year-old Blake, and 21-year-old Vivienne. Rosie is also the mother of 10-year-old daughter Clay, whom she adopted with her late ex-wife Michelle Rounds.
Back in 2017, Rosie opened up to E! News about her strained relationship with Chelsea, saying, “When you’ve lived in a family where one of the people in it is suffering, you’re used to this kind of pain. But to say it’s not painful is a lie. I love her, I will always love her, and she thinks I suck right now, which is partly normal. I hope that one day she’s able to understand the totality of her existence and find a way to incorporate the people who loved her for her first 18 years.”
