Rosie O'Donnell returns from self-imposed 'TDS' exile
'The Five' co-hosts discuss Rosie O'Donnell's decision to return to the U.S. after a self-imposed exile.
Weeks after revealing her secret facelift, Rosie O'Donnell is opening up about why she did it and her thoughts on future cosmetic surgeries.
While attending the 2026 Tony Awards on Sunday, the 64-year-old comedian — who got a facelift in January — further explained her reasoning behind the decision and shared whether she'd be open to other cosmetic procedures.
"No, I don’t think so," O'Donnell told E! News at the 2026 Tony Awards on Sunday. "I'm on Mounjaro for the last three years. I have diabetes, and I lost over 50 pounds and then was responsible for a lot of the extra skin that I had around my face. And there were two lines that made me look sad. In Ireland, people would say, ‘Are you upset, darling? What’s the matter, love?’ and I’m like, ‘That’s just my face. I’m not upset. It’s just how I look.’"
"Authenticity is the goal in these days and times, and people are lying about everything all day to the American public. It’s very depressing to me and unsettling, and I think all that matters is truth and love," she continued. "And so, I wanted to be truthful and say all the complicated feelings I had about it."
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Rosie O'Donnell, who attended the 79th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 7, 2026, revealed she had a secret facelift earlier this year. (TheStewartofNY/FilmMagic)
"I just felt it was better to be truthful than not, and I didn’t want some tabloid to go, ‘Gotcha!’" she added. "I just wanted to say, ‘Here’s what I did, here’s the doctor …’ and if you want to, it’s very expensive. It’s more expensive than any car I ever bought, but I can’t drive around in my face."
Last month, the former talk show host opened up about battling an unthinkable amount of guilt and shame after undergoing cosmetic surgery earlier this year.
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"I used to feel very strongly about facelifts," she wrote in an essay on Substack. "Not casually — morally. I had assigned myself as head of all women who would never — ever. I thought it was a betrayal. Of feminism. Of aging. Of our team of women worldwide. And then I lost 50 pounds."
"It wasn’t wrinkles — it was gravity. I’d look in the mirror and think, this isn’t aging, this is melting with intention. I tried to be evolved about it. And say things like, 'This is natural. This is earned.' And then… 'umm how earned does it have to look?' There’s a point where acceptance starts to feel like lying."
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O'Donnell said that when she started to do her own research, her 13-year-old child, Clay, strongly disagreed with the decision.
"Then my 13-year-old child found out. And it was not subtle. 'You earned your wrinkles.' Which — first of all — rude. But also… correct," O'Donnell wrote. "Then Clay said, 'Young women look up to you,' And finally — with strong effect — 'I wouldn’t be able to respect you if you did it.' And that one… landed. That’s a big statement from someone who still needs you to open jars."
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O'Donnell said she saw her younger self in Clay, a version of herself that was judging her own appearance.
"It really threw me. I delayed the whole thing for months, just sitting with it, thinking," she admitted. "And then I had this quiet realization: if I’m teaching Clay anything, it can’t be that my body belongs to an idea either. Even a good idea. Even feminism."
Rosie O'Donnell spoke about the guilt and shame she felt while considering cosmetic surgery. The comedian underwent a facelift in January. (Right: O'Donnell posted this photo in April.) (Getty Images; Rosie O'Donnell Instagram)
"Because that’s still not freedom— that’s just a different authority telling you what you’re allowed to do with your own face," she continued.
After months of back-and-forth, O'Donnell had a facelift in January.
"I wanted a limit. I wanted to still be me, just… less haunted," she wrote. "And I do look like me — a slightly more well-rested, emotionally stable version of me."
Despite the positive outcome, O'Donnell said she began struggling with an immense amount of guilt and deceit.
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"I have never liked secrets and part of my desire to show myself is to come clean. But who do I owe that truth to? Is it mine to keep?"
O'Donnell, here in 2024, has lost over 50 lbs. in the last couple of years. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
O'Donnell said she feels "shameful" over her privileged place in this world, admitting that the facelift "cost more money than I have ever paid for a car."
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"The things I have — earned some say, but it's the gross excess that wounds me," she wrote.
"As I get ready for the last day of school with my youngest — the caboose here at 64 years old with a new lower face and neck, just happy to be alive, able to feel and choose and use my voice whenever I feel called to ... For the girl I was, the woman I am, and all those joining my ranks. As we carry on in act 3, this is me."
