Rosie O’Donnell is leaving ABC’s “The View,” after a split from her wife Michelle Rounds.
ABC representatives confirmed her departure to several sources, saying that next week will be O’Donnell’s last on the daytime talk show.
A statement from ABC detailed the circumstances of her departure:
“Rosie is an immensely talented star who comes in each and every morning brimming with ideas, excitement and passion for the show,” it said. “When she told us she wanted to exit ‘The View,’ we respected and understood her desire to put her well-being and her family first. We’re delighted she’s still part of the ABC family with upcoming guest appearances on ‘The Fosters,’ and we know she’ll return to ‘The View’ often with her unique point of view and updates on her work and her family.”
O’Donnell returned to “The View” in September 2014, having previously been a co-host in the 2006-2007 season. Her latest departure was in order to concentrate on her family’s well-being, following her separation from Rounds.
Sources close to O’Donnell told the New York Post’s PageSix that O’Donnell and Rounds had been living apart for months before their separation was announced on Friday night. PageSix, who was first to report the news, said that O’Donnell felt she had to leave the show to be with her five children.
“I can confirm that Rosie and her wife Michelle split in November. Rosie has teens and an infant at home that need her attention. This has been a very stressful situation. She is putting her personal health and family first,” an O’Donnell’s publicist Cindi Berger told PageSix.
O’Donnell, 52, married Rounds in June 2012, her second marriage. In 2013, they adopted a daughter, who joined O’Donnell’s four other children.
In 2014, “The View” brought on O’Donnell, Rosie Perez, and Nicolle Wallace, in hopes of rejuvenating the show. But ratings continued to struggle, and there have been reports of tension amongst co-hosts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A request for comment from O’Donnell’s spokesperson had not yet been answered.
