Rosie O’Donnell’s daughter Chelsea files to change name in wake of addiction struggles, arrests

Rosie O’Donnell‘s eldest daughter is moving to change her name amid a tumultuous period in her personal life.

Chelsea Belle O’Donnell, 27, filed to legally change her name Jan. 30, according to Wisconsin court records reviewed by Entertainment Weekly. The filing came in the wake of her being arrested in September, October, and November on multiple felony charges, including drug possession and bail jumping. (She was sentenced last month to six years of probation.)

According to the Daily Mail, which first reported the news, Chelsea moved to change her last name back to her birth mother’s maiden name, Neuens, after Rosie, who adopted Chelsea as a baby, removed her from her will earlier in January.

A representative for Rosie declined to comment Wednesday; Chelsea could not immediately be reached by EW for comment.

Rosie appeared to address her daughter’s name change in a poem titled “my child chelsea” posted to Substack this past weekend, writing, “she wishes to change her last name/to her birth moms maiden name/doesn’t make sense to me/I am not her.” She added, “im proud of her/living her truth/i respect her desires/her struggles her success.”

Chelsea is currently residing in a sober living facility in Wisconsin. Following Chelsea’s sentencing last month, Rosie told EW her daughter was “in a drug rehabilitation program and doing quite well.” She added, “I am very proud of her progress — we (her family) support and love her very much and are grateful for the opportunity she has to improve her health and find a way to live a life of sobriety.”

Prior to that, after Chelsea was arrested last fall, Rosie wrote on social media, “sadly this is not new for our family – chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade – we r all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease.”

Chelsea was born Sept. 20, 1997, and adopted by O’Donnell and her then-partner, Kelli Carpenter. She ran away from home at 17 and relocated to Wisconsin to live with her birth mother, Deanna Micoley (née Neuens). Chelsea has four children of her own.

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Rosie recently moved to Ireland ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The comedian and former cohost of The View, who has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, said, “It’s been heartbreaking to see whats happening politically, and hard for me personally as well. The personal is political, as we all know.”