Rosie O’Donnell shares photo of troubled daughter Chelsea ‘from a better time’ following arrest
Rosie O’Donnell is remembering the better times.
The comedian, 62, shared a throwback photo of her daughter Chelsea Belle O’Donnell following the latter’s recent arrest for child neglect and drug possession.
In the picture posted on Instagram Saturday, Chelsea rested with a newborn on her chest. It is unclear which one of her four children was featured in the selfie.
“chelsea is in the news today – this is a photo from a better time,” Rosie captioned her post.
The former talk show host also included a statement on behalf of her family, which her rep had previously shared with Page Six exclusively.
“Sadly, this is not new for our family — Chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade — we are all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease,” the statement read.
News broke Friday that Chelsea, 27, had been charged on Sept. 17 with four felony counts of maintaining a drug trafficking place, child neglect and possession of methamphetamine and THC.
She reportedly was also hit with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct/domestic abuse and possession of illegally obtained prescription drugs.
Chelsea was taken into custody after officers visited her home in Marinette, Wisc., following a dispute with her boyfriend, Jacob Nelund, per court documents obtained by In Touch.
Upon arrival, police noticed Chelsea’s pupils were “dilated” and that she “was not being honest whatsoever.” They also discovered a meth pipe in her pocket, which still had drug residue in it.
This prompted police to search her home, where they found a meth bong and meth pipe “that a small child could have easily grabbed,” per the police report.
“A black and silver digital scale, some used gem bags with white residue, and a sharps container that had more used and unused hypodermic needles” were also found under her baby’s crib.
“Inside the bedroom that appeared to be designated as [the child’s] room, there were numerous used hypodermic needles,” a second officer reported.
“Several of them were loaded with blood. There were old apples, garbage, random tools, and butane bottles sitting on the floor, all mixed with the clothing belonging to [the child].”
Inside the bedroom Chelsea shared with Nelund, cops also found a “used meth pipe and a gem bag with meth in it.”
Police reported that they had evidence to suggest the house was used for drug trafficking and a setup to cook meth.
Chelsea was later found to have 18 grams of meth after an arresting officer noticed her “digging into her butt or her vaginal area.”
Following her arrest, Chelsea’s youngest child was placed under the care of Nelund’s friends before she was released on bail.
Chelsea was arrested a second time on Oct. 10 after a traffic stop where she allegedly tried to throw a meth pipe out the window.
The officer also found “three used needles” in the vehicle’s center console, as well as oxycodone, morphine and sulfate pills, plus a baggie of methamphetamine, in her bra.
She was reportedly charged with possession of meth, bail jumping, possession of narcotics and other misdemeanor charges.
For the last decade, Chelsea has been battling with drug addiction.
When she was 17 years old, she was reported missing in New York before being found at an alleged drug dealer’s home in New Jersey four days later.
Two months after the situation, Chelsea revealed she suffered from anxiety and depression.
At the age of 18, she was rushed to a Long Island hospital for a reported drug overdose.
Chelsea went on to welcome daughters Skylar Rose in 2018, Riley in 2021 and Avery Lynn in 2022 and son Atlas in 2023.
Rosie adopted Chelsea as a baby with her now-ex-wife Kelli Carpenter.
