- Rosie O’Donnell said she was “shocked” to hear her fellow former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres left the U.S. for England
- A source told PEOPLE in November 2024 that DeGeneres moved to the English countryside after house hunting there in October
- O’Donnell has been vocal about politics being the reason why she made her own big move to Ireland in January, but DeGeneres has not given a reason for her move
- There has been tension between the two comedians in the past after O’Donnell said DeGeneres claimed to not know who she was
Rosie O’Donnell is expressing her surprise over fellow comedian Ellen DeGeneres’ big move to the U.K.
While The View alum, 63, has no regrets when it comes to relocating to Ireland with her 12-year-old child Clay, she told Us Weekly that she’s “shocked” DeGeneres, 67, had a similar idea.
“I’ve never really known Ellen to say anything political in her life, so I was surprised to read that she left because of President Trump. Like, that shocked me, actually,” O’Donnell told the outlet. “I’ve been a political person my whole life, not better or worse, it’s just a different way to be in the world.”
O’Donnell moved to Dublin in January and has been vocal about leaving the U.S. as a result of the current Trump administration, but DeGeneres has not said publicly that the political climate had any influence on her decision to move abroad.
Vanity Fair reported that DeGeneres had told friends that the move was motivated by the election, citing the Wrap, and that the couple did not have plans to return to the U.S.
A source told PEOPLE in November 2024 that the former Ellen host had relocated to the English countryside with wife Portia de Rossi after house hunting there a month before and finding a place she loved. Shortly after, DeGeneres and de Rossi were spotted at The Farmer’s Dog, a pub owned by the English TV presenter and journalist Jeremy Clarkson in the celeb-favorite Cotswolds region.
DeGeneres has shared dispatches from her new life in the country on Instagram, most recently sharing a snapshot of her wife taking a photo of a double rainbow visible from their estate.
Since relocating, DeGeneres has sold one of her last remaining properties in the States, however she retains at least one as she recently revealed has a”chicken sitter” watching the birds she still keeps there, while expanding her flock in the U.K.
Since confirming her move in March, O’Donnell has shared a number of TikTok videos in which she references her “feud” with President Donald Trump. She also noted that the changes he’s made in the country since he was inaugurated on Jan. 20 were a big reason why she didn’t want to live in the U.S. anymore.
“I was very clear about the reason why I was leaving, and I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone,” she added, before referencing DeGeneres again: “We’re not really in each other’s worlds, and it’s been kind of awkward but you know what? I wish her the best. I wish that she has peace and love in her life and that she is OK.”
The two comedians have not always been on the best of terms.
While speaking with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in 2022, O’Donnell revealed there was tension between her and DeGeneres after DeGeneres allegedly claimed to not know who O’Donnell was.
“We had a little bit of a weird thing,” O’Donnell said at the time. “Larry King was on with Ellen and he said ‘What ever happened to Rosie O’Donnell? Her show went down the tubes! She came out as a lesbian and disappeared!'”
She then revealed that it was DeGeneres’ response that created tension between the two: “And Ellen said, and I’m quoting, ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.'”
In 2023, O’Donnell said DeGeneres did text her and apologize for the mishap — but she was not ready to forgive the incident.
“She wrote, ‘I’m really sorry, and I don’t remember that.’ I guess she saw me talk about it on Andy Cohen’s show,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “I remembered it so well, I had T-shirts printed and I gave them to my staff that said ‘I don’t know Rosie. We’re not friends.”
She also noted that the pair had known each other “for so many years,” so the comment felt like a stab in the back. “It just felt like I don’t trust this person to be in my world,” she added.
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Despite their history, O’Donnell told Us Weekly that she will always “wish her the best.”
“I don’t want to fight against another gay woman. It’s not like we’re tenaciously opposed to each other. We’re just very different people. We have had some stuff in the past that we never resolved. And not in any way as, as partners or lovers or anything like that, just as friends and comedians, but I wish her the best. I seriously do,” she said.
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