Rosie O’Donnell has revealed she was sexually abused by her father.
The actress, comedienne, TV host, author and activist has long been candid about her personal life, sexual orientation, political affiliations and difficult childhood.
Now, she’s ready to share more.
According to reporting from Variety, O’Donnell, 56, has revealed she was abused by her father, Edward Joseph O’Donnell, in the new book “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View,’” written by Variety’s New York bureau chief Ramin Setoodeh.
“It started very young,” O’Donnell told Setoodeh. “And then when my mother died, it sort of ended in a weird way, because then he was with these five children to take care of. On the whole, it’s not something I like to talk about. Of course, it changes everyone. Any child who is put in that position, especially by someone in the family, you feel completely powerless and stuck, because the person you would tell is the person doing it.”
O’Donnell has opened up before about her difficult relationship with her father. In a 2012 interview with Piers Morgan, she said, “He had his own issues and demons. He had a very tough childhood, he had an alcoholic, abusive father and never really got the help that I think every person needs when they have lived through that as a child.”
O’Donnell’s mother, Roseann Teresa O’Donnell, died in 1973, four days before O’Donnell’s 11th birthday. Her father died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 81.
“Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View’” is published by St. Martin’s Press and goes on sale April 2.
Barbara VanDenburgh, USA TODAY
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