Rosie O’Donnell: Custody Battle Gets Nasty, Rep Calls Rosie’s Ex ‘Desperate’

Rosie O’Donnell and her ex, Michelle Rounds, are apparently in the middle of a custody battle that just got ugly. According to People Magazine, Rounds has requested sole custody of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Dakota, filing the request on Tuesday. Her lawyer stated that Rounds feels as though it is in the child’s best interest to be in her care, and that she will provide a better environment for Dakota. Naturally, Rosie disagrees.

“This is an absurd and desperate attempt to use a child for her own gain,” said Rosie’s lawyer on Tuesday. The two women are now at odds over the child, who many feel is being put in the middle of what is turning out to be a bitter split.

Rosie O’Donnell’s custody fight may just be heating up. According to the Mail Online, Rosie and Michelle do have a prenuptial agreement, but they adopted their daughter a year after signing the papers. It is unknown if there is a clause about children anywhere in their original paperwork.

Prior to her marriage to Rounds, O’Donnell had been raising four children with her ex, Kelli Carpenter. Parker, 19, and Chelsea, 17, were adopted by Rosie before she got married. Blake, 15, was adopted by Rosie and Kelli, and Vivienne, 12, was born to Rounds who got pregnant via artificial insemination. Rosie and Kelli never really seemed to have a serious issue when it came to raising their kids together.

Rosie O’Donnell may have wanted to share custody with Michelle Rounds, but that much was not known when the couple filed divorce papers in February. There did seem to be some concern regarding Dakota, as Rosie’s publicist, Cindi Berger, mentioned the importance of caring for the child during the “stressful” time in her client’s life, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

“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.”

Rosie and Michelle split before the holidays in 2014. They cited the reason for their divorce as “an irretrievably broken relationship.” It is unclear what may have happened between the two women, but it doesn’t sound like they are going through these proceedings amicably.

Do you think Michelle Rounds will be awarded sole custody of Dakota? Do you think Rosie will file her own request in response to her ex’s paperwork?

[Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images]