Rosie O’Donnell announced on her Twitter account Wednesday that she and her wife, Michelle Rounds, have just welcomed their very first child together, a baby girl named Dakota. Rosie and Michelle were married in a private ceremony last June, just prior to Michelle’s surgery for desmoid tumors. This baby isn’t entirely unexpected, Rosie announced in an appearance on the Dr. Oz show last January that she and Michelle had been trying to get pregnant together (presumably, with the help of a sperm donor). Here are some details:

Rosie O’Donnell announced on Twitter a short time ago that she and wife Michelle Rounds have a new baby girl.

With a photo of Rosie and Michelle holding the precious bundle, Rosie wrote: “we r thrilled to announce the arrival of r daughter Dakota – #withloveandthanks – AMEN.”

Rosie’s rep tells us the baby was born Jan. 5 and weighed in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces: “Moms and baby are happy and healthy.”

In January 2012, Ro, 50, told Dr. Oz on his daytime talk show that Rounds, 41, was “trying to get pregnant.”

After that interview, however, Rounds was diagnosed with desmoids tumors, a rare condition that requires multiple surgeries. And in August, Rosie had a heart attack.

The two, who got engaged in December 2011, were married in June 2012.

Rosie already is mom to four older kids: Parker, 17, Chelsea, 15, Blake, 13, and Vivienne, 10. She split from Kelli Carpenter in 2007 after nearly a decade together. Dakota is the first child for Rounds.

[From USA Today]

Wow, these two certainly have their hands full! I cannot even imagine carrying a child after surgery for desmoid tumors, so I guess Michelle is probably still pretty wiped out. Hopefully, Rosie will rise to the challenge although it worries me that she had a heart attack last year and then waited until the next day to consult a doctor. Now that Rosie is a mother to five (instead of four) children, maybe she’ll realize that health needs to come before all other concerns.

Congratulations to Rosie and Michelle!

UPDATE: People reports that Rosie and Michelle adopted little Dakota. This makes more sense since Michelle’s body has been through so much already during this past year.

Photos courtesy Fame/Flynet and Instagram

Just a couple of short days ago, the news broke that Rosie O’Donnell and her girlfriend, Michelle Rounds, had gone ahead and tied the knot a few months ago. Prior to that announcement, we learned that not only did Rosie recently suffer from a severe heart attack (the type that she says her doctors described as “the Widow maker“) but also that Michelle has been diagnosed with desmoid tumors. In light of Michelle’s condition, she and Rosie decided that they would get married before Michelle had to undergo surgery. Sounds very committed and romantic, right? Well, Rosie didn’t let her feelings get in the way of springing a prenuptual agreement on Michelle in the days leading up to the wedding. The essence of the agreement — if Michelle ever cheats on Rosie, she’ll get nothing in the event of a divorce:

Before their secret rush wedding in June, Rosie O’Donnell subjected her new bride Michelle Rounds to eight months of grueling prenuptial negotiations – and she’ll get nothing if she cheats, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Sources say O’Donnell, 50, was so tough in the talks that they didn’t get the prenup signed until hours before the intimate June 9 wedding, which was held in front of just a few people at O’Donnell’s home in Nyack.

While comedienne and talk-show host O’Donnell has been “extremely generous to Michelle in the prenup,” sources say, her 40-year-old bride “gets nothing if she cheats.” Lawyers for the pair had been in talks over the agreement since they were engaged last December.

The couple, who had planned to marry in August, brought the wedding forward after Rounds was diagnosed with rare desmoid tumors, also known as aggressive fibromatosis, in June. She had surgery June 14. Meanwhile O’Donnell has also had health issues. She revealed Aug. 20 that she recently suffered a heart attack.

Our source added, “Both women have health issues, but the prenup negotiations were pretty fraught in the days before the wedding. Rosie just wanted to get it signed under her terms. She wasn’t in the mood to make any compromises. Despite this, Rosie and Michelle truly love each other, and they wanted to marry before Michelle underwent surgery,” the source said.

Rounds has gone through several gastrointestinal operations to remove the tumors and is now recovering at home with O’Donnell. They are expected to have the wedding celebration later this year, when they are both feeling better.

“We married in private before her surgery, just the two of us,” O’Donnell wrote this week on her blog. “When we’re both well enough [we] will have the wedding of our dreams.”

[From Page Six]

I can’t really blame Rosie for including a cheating clause in the prenuptual agreement (which is already necessary due to Rosie’s vast fortune), but it sounds like Michelle may have had an issue with Rosie’s lack of trust on that issue if the agreement wasn’t even signed until right before the wedding. Generally speaking, I would agree that cheating is one of the the worst things (other than abuse) that can happen in a marriage, and in most situations, it should be grounds to gain absolutely no monetary benefit in a divorce. However, I can also see how it would be difficult to put up with grumpy, abrasive Rosie for the entirety of one’s life. All I have to say is this — Michelle must really love Rosie, and I hope they do last forever.

Photos courtesy of WENN

A few months ago, I got handed a flyer with photos showing the symptoms of heart attacks in women, which can differ from the standard symptoms most of us are familiar with for men. It was from a new gym trying to advertise, and it was a clever way to do it since I read it carefully. (Here’s a link to a website with the photos and text on the flyer I saw.) Women often suffer heart attacks without realizing what’s happening, and it’s important that they know the signs in order to get help before it’s too late. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell, 50, had a heart attack and realized that she was having some sort of heart problem but didn’t grasp how serious it was. She googled it, dismissed her symptoms, took an aspirin and then waited until the next day to see her doctor. Her doctor told her she’d had a heart attack and sent her to the hospital, where they found a 99% blockage on her coronary artery and inserted a stent. Thank goodness it worked out ok for her. Here’s Rosie’s explanation from her blog. She wrote that she had helped a very large woman get out of her car earlier that day, which may have precipitated her heart attack.

a few hours later my body hurt
i had an ache in my chest
both my arms were sore
everything felt bruised

muscular – i thought
strained or pulled tissue
i went about my day
the pain persisted

i became nauseous
my skin was clammy
i was very very hot
i threw up

maybe this is a heart attack
i googled womens heart attack symptoms
i had many of them
but really? – i thought – naaaa

i took some bayer aspirin
thank god
saved by a tv commercial
literally

i did not call 911
50% of women having heart attacks never call 911
200,000 women die of heart attacks
every year in the US

by some miracle i was not one of them
the next day i went to a cardiologist
the dr did an EKG and sent me to the hospital
where a stent was put in

my LAD was 99% blocked
they call this type of heart attack
the Widow maker
i am lucky to be here

know the symptoms ladies
listen to the voice inside
the one we all so easily ignore
CALL 911

save urself
xxx

[From Rosie's Blog]

Maybe Rosie’s experience will help more women learn what to look for and seek help immediately after a heart attack. It’s a wake up call for sure.

We just heard that Rosie’s fiance, Michelle Rounds, was very sick and had been diagnosed with a rare disease called desmoid tumors. These two have gone through so much recently and I hope that that both of them are on the mend and are feeling better soon. It sounds like Rosie is getting there.

Rosie is shown in the header on 4-14-12. Rosie and Michelle are shown together on 1-10-12. Credit: WENN.com

Rosie O’Donnell was part of a panel discussion this morning on Today. The group – which included Star Jones and Donny Deutsch – ended up discussing Lindsay Lohan’s formal casting in Lifetime’s Liz & Dick, a TV movie about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s relationship. In a moment of extreme clarity, Rosie laid it out: “I feel very sorry for [Lindsay]. I think she needs a lot of help… She needs time away.” Then Matt Lauer asked, “But is it a good idea to cast her?” Rosie said, “No! Because she’s had a lot of trouble doing every single movie, including SNL. She was out and not at rehearsal. I think she’s not in a place to work.” Then Deutsch tried to defend LL, saying “She’s our generation’s Elizabeth Taylor,” and Rosie went crazy, “You’re out of your mind. You’re a crackhead! Get out of here! The last thing she did good she was 16. I don’t think she’s right for the role and I don’t think she’s capable at this point of doing what’s needed.” I completely cosign everything Rosie said. Why are so many people in the media and Hollywood so afraid of saying this? The Cracken is a mess. This casting is a cracktastrophe.

That being said, it will probably be fun to watch the train wreck. Speaking of, several outlets are now running stories about who should be cast as Richard Burton. Well, if this was a real, authentic film about a complicated love story and two of the most interesting personalities of the 20th century, there would only be one choice for Richard Burton: CLIVE OWEN. Same sexy voice, y’all. But considering this is not going to be a quality film of any kind, but a cracked-out disaster, who should play Richard Burton?

People Mag suggests Russell Crowe, Brendan Coyle (Sad Sack John Bates from Downton Abbey) or Jermaine Clement (from Flight of Conchords). You know it’s not going to be anyone like that, though. They’ll probably cast an American to do a Welsh accent. And they’ll probably cast someone like Wilmer Valderrama. No joke. Here are some of the Burton options…

KELLAN LUTZ!!! OMG, Kellan should totally get cast as Burton!

Joey Lawrence. Totally.

Daniel Baldwin. This one actually makes sense.

Charlie Sheen, because why pretend there’s anyone else who could do it?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network has been flailing for quite some time, and after Rosie O’Donnell was supposed to be the big rainmaker and savior for all concerned, extremely poor ratings resulted in Oprah’s cancellation of Rosie’s show, which launched a major bitchfight for the ages. This week’s issue of The Enquirer has a story about Oprah scrambling to find a replacement for Rosie. Reportedly, O has formally extended an offer to Wynonna Judd as a talk show host. In response, Wynonna has told Oprah to shove it somewhere not-so-nice:

How do you like them apples, Oprah? Wynonna Judd has snubbed Oprah Winfrey’s offer of a talk show and The ENQUIRER learned why.

The country superstar is still ticked at the TV titan for promising her the same gig on her network last year, and handing it to Rosie O’Donnell instead, sources say.

“Wynonna simply gave Oprah a taste of her own medicine, and Oprah didn’t like it!” said the insider. “Oprah, on the other hand, feels that Wynonna is an ingrate after she gave her and her mom Naomi a big break.”

Last April and May, Oprah’s network, OWN, aired the six-part reality series “The Judds,” which followed the mother-daughter duo on their reunion concert tour. During the series, the two shared never-before revealed secrets with each other, including the fact that both had been molested as children.

“Oprah loved the show,” said the insider. “But she was most impressed with Wynonna, and started discussions with Wy about hosting her own talk show! Wynonna was thrilled and started putting her own music projects on hold. Then Rosie agreed to do a talk show for OWN, and Oprah quickly forgot about Wynonna — who was crushed.”

Oprah just canceled Rosie’s flop of a show, but now it’s Oprah’s turn to be rejected.

“Wynonna told Oprah she’s too busy right now planning her wedding to drummer ‘Cactus’ Moser to consider doing a talk show,” said the network insider. “Wynonna doesn’t feel that she owes Oprah a thing. In fact, she’s insulted that Oprah turned to her only after Rosie flopped.”

[From Enquirer, print edition, April 9, 2012]

This is a wise move on Wynonna’s part because a signed contract would virtually guarantee standing un-Photoshopped next to a miraculously svelte Oprah on an upcoming issue of O! Magazine. And who really needs that sort of treatment anyway? No one — because it was the one moment in history that I’ve ever felt sorry for Rosie O’Donnell.

Speaking of Rosie, this week’s issue of In Touch has an article about Rosie attempting to bury (at least) half the hatchet by inviting Oprah to her 50th birthday party at Chicago’s Studio Paris. Naturally, Oprah didn’t show, but Mike Tyson did. It’s such a crazy world.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

A few days ago, we discussed the bitchfight that erupted between Oprah and Rosie O’Donnell after the OWN network dropped Rosie’s show after six disappointing months of declining ratings that were never that good to begin with. Naturally, Rosie took the cancellation personally even though there were a million different ways that she’d acted out towards her staff; she also obviously contributed to her show’s demise by abruptly changing the format and ignoring all advice to the contrary. Of course, it didn’t help that Rosie’s show was scheduled during her target audience’s dinner hour, but we could argue both sides of this issue forever and it wouldn’t change the fact that Oprah made a business call, which was well within her authority to do. As for Rosie? She should’ve realized who was boss when Oprah was photoshopped thinner than her on O Magazine.

Anyway, this week’s issue of the Enquirer provides more details about Rosie’s brief reign of terror and even quicker downfall at Oprah’s employ. It’s not a pretty picture:

Rosie O’Donnell snubbed her boss Oprah Winfrey’s advice on how to improve her talk show, and when she got canned, she told the powerful media mogul to drop dead!

Adding to Oprah’s ire, insiders say an abrasive Rosie turned Oprah’s once-peaceful production office intot he studio from hell by cursing and screaming at her staff.

“Oprah gave Rosie every possible chance to turn things around before she gave her the ax,” a source told The ENQUIRER. “And Rosie didn’t take her firing lightly. She went off on Oprah and told her to “Drop dead!”

Insiders say Oprah told Rosie her big mistake was making the show more about herself. She suggested she talk less about herself and let the guests open up more, the source revealed.

“Rosie refused to listen,” said the source. “It was her way or the highway, and Oprah couldn’t get through to her. Rosie thought she knew it all.”

Even worse was Rosie’s nasty behind-the-scenes behavior, said the source. “Rosie cursed, screamed and berated her staff all the time. No one escaped her wrath. She was always ranting that the people working on her show — many of whom were Oprah’s former employees — were inadequate. As the ratings continued to sink lower, Rosie’s roar got even louder. It was only when several staff members gave notices that Oprah finally became aware of the chaos surrounding Rosie. Oprah has always treated her employees like family, and she expected nothing less from Rosie. Oprah knew she had to do something fast.”

So she called Barbara Walters, Rosie’s former co-host on “The View,” for advice on how to handle the disgruntled talk-show host. “Barbara gave Oprah an earful,” said the insider. “She explained that while Rosie was explosive on the air, most people rarely saw the temper tantrum-throwing and mean-spirited Rosie that she experienced firsthand at “The View.”

Oprah was stunend. she told Barbara that she should have called her before hiring Rosie. Barbara admitted that when she heard Oprah was giving Rosie a talk show that she wanted to reach out, but it was already a done deal. Rosie has some real anger issues,” added the insider. “FIrst she feuded with Donald Trump and Barbara Walters, and now it’s Oprah. It appears her only show business friend right now is Howard Stern!”

[From Enquirer, print edition, April 2, 2012]

Obviously, Oprah really dropped the ball if she didn’t even bother to talk to Barbara about her experience with Rosie before handing the former “Queen of Nice” her own show. Then again, Oprah has been rather desperate from the beginning to see her network succeed, and Rosie was supposed to be the big rainmaker after Oprah’s name didn’t instantaneously do the trick. Like I said before, Oprah was only thinking about business when she fired Rosie, but TMZ reports that Oprah has taken steps to help the 30 staff members who were recently fired from OWN by providing them with “extremely generous” severance packages and providing them with a recruiter to help get them on track to finding new jobs. Oprah didn’t have to do that, and Rosie would’ve never done that.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Yesterday, we briefly mentioned that Oprah had unceremoniously yanked Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show from the OWN network after six months of disappointing ratings. Originally, Rosie and Oprah had signed a deal with the hope that Rosie could help save Oprah’s (clearly dying) network, but it just didn’t work out that way. Certainly, it didn’t help that the show had a small budget and was based in Chicago (where Rosie relocated), and most celebrities weren’t willing to fly in just for an interview while reportedly being asked to travel in coach class. Matters were made worse when Rosie’s show premiered to lackluster ratings that only grew worse after several format changes that started out as an hour-long comedy format with a live audience and ended up as a closed-studio, interview only show that featured the likes of a bunch of C-listers like Kat Von D., Jaleel White, and Dance Moms, not to mention Chelsea Hander and her neverending stream of little people jokes.

Furthermore, Rosie herself seemed to clash with most if not all of Oprah’s former staff, who Rosie took over as part of the deal along with Oprah’s old studio. Soon, Rosie fired Winfrey’s longtime stage manager, clashed with Winfrey’s former director, and humiliated her bandleader because he wasn’t able “play obscure Broadway songs off the cuff right when she named them on live TV.” Here are some more details that are excerpted from The Daily Beast’s discussions with several jilted staffers:

Through all the changes, some 30 employees from producers to writers had left because of budget cuts and possibly because of a boss who couldn’t decide what she wanted and frequently humiliated them in public. “It was such a f#*king hellhole,” says one former staffer.

What went wrong? Multiple insiders interviewed for this story say that both Ro and O are to blame; the network never fit O’Donnell, and O’Donnell wasn’t able to make the splash she was supposed to. At first, the new Rosie Show was a lot like the old Rosie O’Donnell Show, which is to say it featured the Rosie that America used to love. Rosie cracked jokes with her live audience and belted out Broadway numbers. She ended each episode with a game show that paired her celebrity guests (Roseanne, Sharon Osbourne, Valerie Harper, etc.) with regular people. The critics–those who could find OWN on their TV dials–offered a smattering of raves.

OWN wasn’t so sure, however. The premiere debuted with only 497,000 viewers, and by the end of the first week, Rosie had tumbled to less than half that audience. One issue was the time slot. OWN wouldn’t air Rosie during the day, because it didn’t have any original daytime programming. That also meant most of Rosie’s core demographic–soccer moms–would be eating dinner during its airtime.

O’Donnell was confused, too. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be and was losing confidence in the funny material that once made her great. She started spinning in different directions (should she be more political?) and frequently lost her temper, according to staff members.

There was another tricky problem. Market research had indicated that even the show’s gay-friendly audience was tiring of all the gay references and hearing O’Donnell talk about being a lesbian, but O’Donnell disregarded that critique. On a recent Friday night, she advertised on Twitter that she was doing a special where she talked about being gay in America. The show ended up being an interview with Randy Roberts Potts, the grandson of televangelist Oral Roberts, and it featured clips of Rosie talking to her staff about coming out. During another episode, she implied on TV that one of the younger staff members was gay, when he had never talked about his sexual orientation. The incident left him upset and embarrassed.

When O’Donnell returned from Christmas, she ordered that her staff build her a new set. She wanted a smaller, more intimate talk show. A few episodes later, she completely removed the audience. She traded down for a tiny side studio, with no band and no announcer. Without an audience, O’Donnell looked and sounded deflated. Although early test research indicated that O’Donnell didn’t rate well when she spent too much time interviewing celebrities, the new format had that as the focus. O’Donnell spent nearly an hour grilling the character actor Dermot Mulroney about his life, his childhood, his marriage, and fame. If the interview weren’t tedious enough, she had him play his childhood cello. (He wasn’t very good.) The full hour with Tony Danza wasn’t much better. Last week, Rosie had Liza Minnelli on, and the two women gushed about each other for the entire show. The interview was so toothless, it felt more like eavesdropping on two patrons having lunch at the Sizzler.

[From Daily Beast]

Rosie has apparently taken the cancellation very poorly, which is sort of understandable, but she apparently fled Chicago and refused to tell the staff the bad news herself. So they had to find out via the press release, which seems to only add insult to prolonged injury. Now the inevitable bitchfight between Rosie and Oprah has commenced:

It’s becoming the battle of the talk show queens, as Rosie O’Donnell and Oprah Winfrey aren’t talking to each other after Ms. O’s decision to cancel Ro’s talk show on her embattled cable television network, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

Winfrey did call Rosie to tell her that the show was being canceled and “it was a very strained conversation, obviously,” according to a source close to the situation. “Oprah wanted to handle the announcement of the cancellation in a professional and dignified manner. Rosie thanked Oprah for the opportunity and ended the conversation very abruptly. OWN’s public relations team and Rosie’s publicist handled the language in the press release. Rosie didn’t like the initial language of the press release because she felt that it placed sole responsibility of the failure of the show on her. Oprah didn’t need to get Rosie’s input or approval for the press release, but she was trying to be gracious. Up until the moment that the press release was sent out, Rosie wanted changes made, but Oprah instructed the release to go out, because it needed to go out, and she was just over the drama,” the source added.

In a statement announcing the cancellation of Rosie’s show, Winfrey said: “I thank Rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. She has been an incredible partner, working to deliver the best possible show every single day. As I have learned in the last 15 months, a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. I’m grateful to Rosie and the dedicated Rosie Show team for giving it their all.”

[From Radar]

Radar goes on to mention that Rosie had instructed her own “people” to call Oprah in an attempt to dictate what the press release should include, but since Rosie refused to call Oprah herself, O just released the announcement on her own grounds. It sounds like Oprah at least handled the statement itself in a diplomatic manner, and I don’t see how Rosie could’ve possibly made it sound any better with all of her (likely) crazy demands.

However, Oprah’s troubles continue even after getting rid of Rosie and (unfortunately) firing that show’s staff. TMZ reveals that about 30 other people at OWN got laid off today, and those workers range from high level executives to newcomers. It sounds like the entire network is on the outs and won’t last much longer. At least Oprah seems to realize that these decisions must be made for the sake of business, but of course, Rosie is probably taking this all too personally.

Oprah shown in NYC on 3/1; Rosie shown in NYC on 1/10; Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

It’s hard to believe that this story even has a reason to exist, but when Chelsea Handler appeared on Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, their mutual histories of offensive talk collided in grand fashion on the subject of little people.

In retrospect, I guess we shouldn’t be shocked by Chelsea’s insensitivity on any subject. Just in the recent past, she’s been called out by GLAAD for mocking Chaz Bono. Chelsea has recently attempted to take an anti-bullying stance even though she’s one of the biggest bullies out there. Rosie’s record isn’t much better after parodying the Chinese language with a “Ching Chong” rant and then issuing an obligatory (half-assed) apology but only when pressured to do so. Rosie also took great joy in offending Southerners with her “mom in law impression,” which was okay to her because it’s only “comedy” and “What can u do? I come in peace.” Of course, we all know that Rosie would demand much more from anyone who would dare to do an impression of an angry lesbian or someone who drinks too much, right? No one is allowed to mock Rosie or her pet causes, but she thinks it’s okay for her to make fun of other groups in the name of “comedy.”

Well, Chelsea and Rosie’s discussion about little people wasn’t funny at all, and the Little People of America are opening the topic up for discussion. Here’s the lowdown:

Rosie O’Donnell’s recent interview with Chelsea Handler on her Oprah Winfrey Network talk show is causing big problems for both performers with America’s little people.

One segment of the interview, which took place on “The Rosie Show,” had the two talk show hosts discussing their differing opinions of people with short stature. Basically, Handler loves them while O’Donnell is afraid of them.

“I’m a little ashamed about it [but] I have a mild fear or anxiety around little people,” O’Donnell confessed before asking Handler point blank: “Would you ever do a little person?”

Handler’s quick response: “No, that would be child abuse. I’d never do that.”

“That’s half my issue,” O’Donnell said. “The problem with me is I can’t put the two things together. This is an adult person, a little person … it’s so hard for me.”

Handler takes the opposite view.

“I love little people,” she said. “I want to tackle them. I see them and I want to hold myself down. I bite Chuy [Bravo] sometimes. … He’s so cute and that’s my ultimate body. If you’re going to have a little person, I want that shape, the corpulence.”

Both Handler and O’Donnell’s comments are a big issue for Little People of America, a support group for Americans of short stature due to dwarfism.

Spokeswoman Leah Smith says both viewpoints are equally offensive, but in different ways, so the group has taken the steps of sending separate open letters to Handler and O’Donnell to make their concerns known.

“We decided to separate the two because they are both equally offensive, but separate,” Smith told HuffPost Weird News. “Handler used a lot of ‘pity rhetoric’ when discussing Chuy, saying he couldn’t get a job if not for her.

“For the record, we’re not in need of ‘getting saved.’ We are capable of being successful in any job.”

Although Handler often asks Bravo to do things like dress up in baby clothes, he has publicly said he has no problems with that, saying it’s part of the job. For that reason, Smith said the LPA has no problems with him choosing to take the job.

LPA has a bigger problem with O’Donnell’s comments, because she attributes her feelings to heredity.”My Nana was afraid of the ‘Wizard Of Oz’ munchkins,” she told Handler.

Smith says the comedian is perpetuating “fear-based attitudes.” “Instead of pepetuating these fears, let’s learn how to accept differences,” Smith said.

The Huffington Post contacted representatives for both Handler and O’Donnell, but neither have responded the Little People of America’s comments.

Smith said the group is angry, but doesn’t plan a boycott of either performer.

“We’d rather start a discussion and deal with the issue head on,” she said. “No other group is marginalized like this.”

[From Huff Po]

I agree with the LPA’s statement that no other group is as alienated to such a point within the United States. Our society in general tiptoes around in the name of political correctness when it comes to race and gender, but little people are often treated as mere novelties throughout our culture and are even subjected to cruel practices such as dwarf tossing, which has only recently gathered attention because Peter Dinklage was willing to speak out against the practice.

As far as Chelsea and Rosie’s twin offensive statements of ignorance, I am sad to say that their joint insensitivity is not surprising at all. I’d go into specifics of exactly why Chelsea’s statement that having sex with a little person would be like “child abuse” is an incredibly stupid and hurtful thing to say, but her words really speak for themselves. Rosie tries to explain away her perspective by admitting to being ashamed of her fear of little people, but she’s not fooling anyone away from her own prejudices. Both of these ladies (especially Rosie) are quick to point out only the injustices that matter to them, but they are all too willing to make insensitive and racist comments in the name of comedy. Of course, Oprah is allowing this nonsense to occur on her network, and she wonders why no one is watching.

Photo of Chelsea Handler (Belvedere) RED Pre-Grammys Party on 2/9/12 courtesy of WENN; Photos of Rosie at Building Dreams for Kids Gala on 11/19/11 and at the BRC Inaugural Benefit Gala on 6/6/11 courtesy of WENN

The last we reported on Rosie O’Donnell’s new girlfriend, Michelle Rounds, her dad went on the record to the National Enquirer to say that he didn’t know his daughter was gay and that he found out through the press like everyone else. Roger Rounds told the Enquirer “It totally hit us out of left field. We only found out about Michelle liking girls when all this came out about them a few weeks ago. It’s been hard to take!” As I mentioned at the time, given that Michelle’s parents responded so negatively and were so willing to talk to the press about it, you can understand why their daughter didn’t come out to them personally.

Well I bet Michelle’s family is in for another surprise. Their 40 year-old daughter is engaged to the abrasive TV personality just a year after they first met. Rounds lives and works in New York, and same sex marriage was legalized in the state this June. Rosie made the announcement on her flailing talkshow on OWN.

Rosie O’Donnell has a lot to celebrate.

The TV star, 49, not only launched The Rosie Show on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network in October, but now she’s preparing to say “I do” to girlfriend Michelle Rounds.

She broke the news to her audience Monday during a break set aside for commercials during the taping of her show in a Chicago studio. Her rep later confirmed it to PEOPLE.

On Friday, she posted a photo of Rounds on her Instagram page with the word “love.” She also Tweeted a link – this time with the caption “happy – in love” – of her new fiancée the same day.

The duo met earlier this year at a Starbucks. In October, O’Donnell joked that her “gaydar was way off” because she thought Rounds was heterosexual and just 28 years old, when really she is a gay woman and 40.

“It’s fun and very exciting,” O’Donnell recently said about the relationship. “I did not expect it.”

[From People]

It looks like Rosie and Michelle are rushing into things, but maybe it will work out for them and maybe they believe they’ve carefully considered it. Rosie told Howard Stern this fall that she was hoping to marry Michelle and that they had even talked about it at that point. She said “We’re gay women come on. We’ve met the family, we’re getting wedding invitations printed… I think it could be in the cards, it’s legal in New York. We’ve discussed it.” They’re moving forward with those plans. It’s well overdue that they have the right to marry, even if I still doubt that these two will last. Rosie just seems like a hard person to get along with and from an outsider’s perspective it’s been a whirlwind relationship.

Update: here are a bunch of photos from Rosie’s Twitter account. They look really happy together and that’s a gorgeous ring.

The Enquirer has an interview with the father of Rosie O’Donnell’s new girlfriend, NY-based businesswoman Michelle Rounds. Michelle’s dad goes on the record to say that he had no idea his daughter was a lesbian and adds that “it’s been hard to take.” Rosie first went public with Rounds at an event in late September. Rosie later dished about their relationship on the Howard Stern show, saying that she didn’t realize that Rounds was gay when she first met her at a Starbucks holding a cute puppy. She told Howard that she had met Michelle’s parents at that point (that’s at 1:10 into this video), saying “yes” when Howard asked her if she’d met Michelle’s parents and claiming “We’re gay women come on. We’ve met the family, we’re getting wedding invitations printed… I think it could be in the cards, it’s legal in New York. We’ve discussed it.” Only Michelle’s dad says that Rosie was lying, that he’s never met his daughter’s new girlfriend and is still trying to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is gay:

The parents of Rosie O’Donnell’s sexy new lover Michelle Rounds are devastated that their beautiful daughter has hooked up with the outspoken lesbian talk-show host.

What’s more, the ultra-conservative couple from upstate New York say Rosie’s a liar for claiming they’ve met her – and, even worse, they didn’t know their 40-year-old daughter was gay until Rosie publicly proclaimed the two had fallen head over heels in love.

“It totally hit us out of left field,” Michelle’s father Roger Rounds divulged in an exclusive ENQUIRER interview. “We only found out about Michelle liking girls when all this came out about them a few weeks ago. It’s been hard to take!”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, received via e-mail]

The Enquirer sent us that text as a teaser article and promises that in the full interview they’ll reveal “how Michelle’s parents first heard the news,” “Michelle’s parents hopes for her, now shattered, and how they raised her with traditional family values,” and “Michelle’s high school experiences and her dating life up until Rosie.” So this is a case of a women keeping the fact that she’s gay from her parents, and letting them find out by default through the press. The fact that they’re responding this way and are willing to talk about it to the Enquirer pretty much explains why their daughter didn’t break the news to them herself. I’m not a Rosie fan and I generally find her full of crap, but it’s not her fault that her partner wasn’t out to her family. Rosie shouldn’t have fibbed to Howard by claiming she’d met Michelle’s family though. Maybe she meant that she’d met a sister or brother or something. I get the vibe that this relationship won’t last long for Rosie. The last we heard, Rosie was pressuring Michelle to quit her job and move to Chicago to be with her, and was getting Michelle in trouble at work by calling her all day.