What to Know
After President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025, Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland. Now, more than a year later, some rumors about her return to the United States have started circulating. A “Breaking News” post claimed that Rosie would be coming back to the U.S. to compete on Dancing with the Stars.
The comedian took to Instagram to address the rumor, and according to her, it might be kind of “funny,” but unfortunately, it’s not true. She shared an AI-generated image that showed her with a sparkly green dress and curly hair.
The fake post read, “Breaking News: Rosie O’Donnell, 63, Makes ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Debut.'”
And it didn’t just hint at her alleged return to the U.S. Text below the fake headline read, “She returns to the U.S. in an epic comeback!” Although some fans would truly love to see Rosie on the show, she made it clear that this is not actually happening. “this made me laugh- reminds me to never get a perm !!!” she wrote in the caption.
She also added that the post was “completely untrue but funny.” In the comments, some of Rosie’s fans were truly disappointed, even though the perm in the fake image made it pretty clear that the “Breaking News” post was not authentic. “Dang it! I was hoping it was true!” one person commented. Another commenter said, “Wish it was true 👏🔥I would absolutely watch the show.”
“The hair was the give away for me oxox” a third person wrote.
However, some people clearly didn’t read Rosie’s caption.
Rosie’s comments section was also full of people who were completely unaware that the rumor isn’t true. “If this is true I’m sure she’ll be one of the first ones voted off,” one critic commented. Another critic wrote, “Please tell me this is a joke,” obviously oblivious to the fact that Rosie confirmed that it is, indeed, just a “funny” rumor.
After Rosie moved to Ireland last year, she talked about potentially returning to the U.S. at some point. While it’s definitely something that she would “consider” doing, it seems unlikely that she would move back while Trump is still president. At the time, she told her social media followers that she would “consider coming back” when “it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America.”
It’s not the first time she has reacted to rumors about her return to the U.S. though. Earlier this month, she shared another post that claimed she was returning to the U.S. because “the American people NEED her ‘now more than ever.'” She told her followers this was “total bulls—.”
Trump has also threatened to revoke Rosie’s U.S. citizenship.
In one of his Truth Social posts, the president referred to Rosie as “a Threat to Humanity” because… she doesn’t support him, or something? “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” he wrote in July 2025. “She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Since moving to Ireland, Rosie has traveled to the U.S., though not to compete on Dancing with the Stars. In February, she told Chris Cuomo that she quietly took a trip to the U.S. to see her family. “I wanted to see how hard it would be for me to get in and out of the country,” she said. “I wanted to feel what it felt like.”
While she was “excited” to visit and see her loved ones, she said the U.S. felt “like a very different country.” She said, “I’m very happy that I’m not in the midst of it there, because the energy that I felt while I was in the United States was — if I can use the most simple word I can think of — it was scary. There’s a feeling that something is really wrong, and nobody is doing anything about it.”
