Rosie O'Donnell, 64, reveals 'shameful' secret facelift... after branding surgery a 'betrayal of feminism'

Rosie O'Donnell has revealed she had a secret facelift after vowing to never get plastic surgery.

The 64-year-old comedian - who fled the US last year - wrote a very personal essay on her Substack about the guilt and shame she felt after going under the knife earlier this year. 

O'Donnell candidly wrote: 'I used to feel very strongly about facelifts. 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.'

O'Donnell revealed that she started doing her own research and her 13-year-old daughter Clay was not a fan of the decision.

She wrote: '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.

'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.'

The mother of five left the US in January 2025 with Clay, who is her youngest, while her four older children - Parker, 30, Blake, 26, Chelsea, 28, and Vivienne, 23 - remained in America.

O'Donnell continued her essay by writing that she saw her younger self in Clay who was a version of herself that was judging her own appearance.

She said: 'It really threw me. I delayed the whole thing for months, just sitting with it, thinking.

'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.

'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 had contemplated going under the knife for cosmetic surgery for months before finally doing it in January of this year.

O'Donnell wrote: 'I wanted a limit. I wanted to still be me, just… less haunted.

'And I do look like me — a slightly more well-rested, emotionally stable version of me.'

The Flintstones actress said that 'no one has noticed' her facial changes including her youngest child despite the agonizing decision.

She wrote: 'I went through a full existential feminist crisis, had my face and neck surgically altered, and the result is... zippo

'Which honestly is the best possible outcome. I didn’t disappear, I didn’t become someone else— I just stopped arguing with the mirror. And maybe that’s enough. Or at the very least…it’s what a lower deep plane face lift looks like when it minds its own business.'

Despite her surgery not being brought up, the star did admit to having a hard time as she feels guilty for deceiving her family and fans.

O'Donnell wrote: '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?'

She went on to say that she also feels 'shameful' over how privileged she feels as her facelift had 'cost more money than I have ever paid for a car.' 

She wrote: 'The things I have – earned some say, but it's the gross excess that wounds me.

'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.'

No doubt her decision to go under the knife may come as a surprise for many as she had previously vowed to never have plastic surgery as she said that her decision has actually helped her land more roles.

O'Donnell told Vulture in August 2021: 'By the time I left my show in 2002, I was very well-known as that character. I think it would have been hard to cast me in a role in a movie.

'I always knew as an actress that when I got into my 60s I would be playing the Geraldine Page roles. I wasn’t going to have plastic surgery. 

'I was going to look the way a woman my age should look, and I always thought that would be a blessing in my older age. I would get to play the Colleen Dewhurst roles. That has turned out to be true. I’m getting all this acting work now that I’m closing in on 60.'

O'Donnell fled the US last year after President Trump threatened to revoke her citizenship following her move to Ireland.

The former talk show host announced in March 2025 that she had relocated to Ireland following Trump’s second inauguration, saying she felt unsafe under his leadership and concerned for her family’s wellbeing. 

The move came amid a long-standing feud with Trump, dating back to her days as a co-host on The View. In July, the former president publicly threatened to strip O’Donnell of her citizenship.