Rosie O’Donnell And Michelle Rounds: Inside Their Rocky Marriage And Bitter Custody Battle Over Baby Dakota

Rosie O’Donnell is mourning the death of her ex-wife, Michelle Rounds. Rounds was found dead of an apparent suicide at age 46, according to Fox News. Rosie O’Donnell issued the following statement after her ex-wife’s death.

“I am saddened to hear about this terrible tragedy. Mental illness is a very serious issue affecting many families. My thoughts and prayers go out to Michelle’s family, her wife and their child.”

In the hours after Michelle Rounds’ death was announced, Rosie also took to Twitter to write, “We need to talk about mental health.”

O’Donnell posted a link to the National Alliance on Mental Illness which includes a list of suicide prevention phone numbers.

Rosie O’Donnell and Michelle Rounds began dating in 2011 after meeting at a Starbucks. Rosie revealed that she struck up a conversation with Michelle over her Pomeranian puppy.

“When I met her she was in Starbucks holding the dog,” O’Donnell, said on The Rosie Show, according to People.

“I walked in and I thought she was like a 28-year-old heterosexual, and I thought, Oh, I’ll just chat her up. And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m trying to get one of those dogs for my daughter.'”

To Rosie’s surprised, Michelle was not only interested in women, but she was single. Early in the relationship, Rosie told reporters at the National Board of Review Awards Gala that Rounds was a combination of Ann-Margret and Barbie doll.

“She has Mattel stamped on her a**,” Rosie said of her lady love, according to Us Weekly. “She’s literally perfection.”

Rosie and Michelle married in a private ceremony in New York in 2012 and soon adopted a baby daughter, Dakota. The newlyweds also both suffered medical scares, which may have put a strain on their marriage.

Less than three years later after marrying Michelle Rounds, Rosie O’Donnell announced she was leaving The View just six months after returning to the show as a co-host. Rosie also dropped the news that she and Michelle had separated the previous November. Rosie O’Donnell and Michelle Rounds started divorce proceedings in early 2015.

After their split, the exes went through a bitter custody battle. TMZ revealed that Rounds asked for full custody of then 2-year-old Dakota and wanted Rosie to submit to random drug testing. At the time, Rounds alleged that O’Donnell drank up to a bottle of wine per night and regularly smoked marijuana. A rep for Rosie O’Donnell told People that Michelle Rounds’ attempt at full custody was “an absurd and desperate attempt” to use the child for her own financial gain. But Michelle Rounds made it clear she wasn’t looking for any of her ex-wife’s money, revealing that she made her first million dollars at age 39, well before she met Rosie.

Rounds also said she would walk away from the couple’s prenup agreement if she was granted full custody of Dakota. Michelle said her name wasn’t on any of Rosie’s houses or cars and that the prenup money meant nothing to her. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Michelle slammed Rosie’s parenting style, claiming that the star employed around-the-clock nannies.

“Right now she has 24/7 nannies over there at Rosie’s house,” Rounds told ET.

“I don’t want my child to have a 24/7 nanny. I want her to be outside playing, I want to be with her. I want to go to all the parent conferences and that’s just not what it’s about over there.”

Michelle also claimed that Rosie didn’t discipline their daughter and that the comedian’s parenting style was one of the biggest problems in their relationship.

“I give [Dakota] mild discipline instead of like — carte blanche, do whatever you want — which is more or less how Rosie likes to do things,” Michelle Rounds said at the time. You can see Michelle Rounds talking about Rosie O’Donnell’s parenting style below.

In October 2015, Rounds’ attorney William London told Page Six the exes agreed to “joint legal custody” of little Dakota. The news was surprising because two months earlier, Michelle had been rushed to Nyack Hospital after overdosing on pills and alcohol in an alleged suicide attempt.

But in 2016, Rosie O’Donnell confirmed she had sole custody of the 3-year-old. On her “Ask Ro” Q&A on her website, Rosie revealed that she no longer shared custody of Dakota with Michelle Rounds.

“I do not,” Rosie wrote when asked if the exes shared joint custody. Rosie also responded “Yup” to another fan who asked if Michelle Rounds was out of their adopted daughter’s life.

According to People, after her divorce from Michele Rounds was finalized in March 2016, Rosie O’Donnell vowed that she would never get married again.

“You can print that,” Rosie told reporters.

Michelle Rounds later remarried and adopted another daughter, this time with new wife Krista Monteleone. Michelle Rounds’ obituary states that she is survived by two daughters and a stepson.

[Featured Image by Noam Galai/Getty Images]