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Rosie O’Donnell reveals how her daughter felt about growing up with ‘lesbian icon’ mum

The comedian’s teenage daughter spoke about her childhood on TikTok

Kate Ng
Tuesday 27 September 2022 12:37 BST
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Rosie O’Donnell has revealed how her 19-year-old daughter Vivienne felt about growing up with “a lesbian icon as a mother who fights with the president”.

The comedian and TV personality, 60, responded to a TikTok video posted by her daughter last month, in which Vivienne joked about not having a “normal” childhood.

In another TikTok video, O’Donnell teased that she would reveal her daughter’s “secrets”, but later clarified that it was all in good fun.

She told People about how Vivienne initially told her followers that when she was younger, a woman named “Mo” would always visit her home and she “never had any idea who she was”.

It was later revealed to the teenager that “Mo” was Madonna.

O’Donnell said: “A lot of people wrote in and said how great I was at keeping it normal. And [Vivienne] was like, ‘Normal?’

“She called me first and said, ‘Normal, Mum. Most people, it’s not normal to have a lesbian icon as a mother who fights with the president, while you are in high school. That’s not normal’.

“So she was kind of ribbing me and teasing in the way that we do.”

The Rosie O’Donnell Show host added she is “very proud” of her daughter, who is currently attending college.

Last week, O’Donnell opened up about the first time her nine-year-old daughter Dakota asked to speak to her birth mother.

Five years after adopting Dakota when she was a baby in 2013, the child requested to speak to her birth mother after seeing her on FaceTime.

“We’re in contact, so Dakota gets on FaceTime and says, ‘Are you the lady whose tummy I was in?’,” O’Donnell recalled.

The comedian is also mother to 27-year-old Parker, 25-year-old Chelsea, and 22-year-old Blake.

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