Finally. After nearly eight months of battling it out in court, Rosie O’Donnell and ex-wife Michelle Rounds have reached a settlement with the terms of their divorce. On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the comedian and Rounds exited a Manhattan court all smiles.
“There’s peace in the Middle East,” O’Donnell, 53, joked to reporters. “It’s done. We’ve settled. We’re both very happy about the outcome.”
O’Donnell and Rounds will share “joint legal custody” of their adopted 2-year-old daughter, Dakota, Rounds’ attorney told reporters.
“We’re happy with everything,” he said. “It’s over.”
Rounds also expressed her relief at finally settling the divorce. “I feel great,” she said.
The former View host initially filed for divorce from Rounds in February after a little more than two years of marriage. A rep for O’Donnell confirmed to Us that the pair had been separated since November 2014.
“Rosie has teens and an infant at home that need her attention,” the rep added of O’Donnell’s simultaneous resignation from the TV talk show. “This has been a very stressful situation. She is putting her personal health and family first.”
It’s been a tumultuous few months for O’Donnell, who recently opened up about her heartbreak over her daughter Chelsea’s tell-all to the Daily Mail during a gig at the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC on Saturday, Oct. 17.
“I love all of my kids,” she said. “My daughter has been in the news. It’s been in the news, but it’s not news to the family. It’s been a decade long. As Mom, my wish is for love and peace and wait until it’s done.”
Chelsea is O’Donnell’s adopted daughter with ex-wife Kelli Carpenter. She also shares kids Parker, Blake, and Vivienne with Carpenter, whom she split with in 2007 after three years together.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, O’Donnell was also sued by a former senior producer of The View, who claimed that the comedian slandered her in front of the show’s staff and subsequently got her fired.
