Rosie O’Donnell is back in New York, and the city has been giving her a very old-fashioned welcome. The 64-year-old comedian says fans have been stopping her on the street, while a new stage show and a high-profile television fill-in have turned her return into something bigger than a quick visit. After moving to Ireland with her youngest child in January 2025, O’Donnell says she now feels oddly, and increasingly, “re-famous.”
According to a report by Boston Herald, O’Donnell has been enjoying old New York touchstones including Joe Allen and Nobu, while strangers approach her to express appreciation. She said the reception feels tied to a renewed appetite for nostalgia, outspoken public figures and people willing to use their platforms during a turbulent political moment.
O’Donnell’s New York Stage Return Runs Through Saturday
O’Donnell’s limited engagement of Common Knowledge is running at the Daryl Roth Theatre through Saturday. The Daryl Roth Theatre describes the production as her first new stage show in nearly a decade, blending personal stories about family, motherhood and her move abroad with the comedy that made her a household name.
The 12-show run marks O’Donnell’s return to New York theater after performances in Dublin and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Local coverage from News 12 Long Island framed the production as a homecoming for the Long Island native, who is bringing an intensely personal version of her public story back to the city where much of her career took shape.
Her Ireland Move Remains Part Of The Performance
O’Donnell’s return comes with a political backstory that is impossible to separate from the show. She moved to Ireland after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and told TheWrap in 2025 that she would consider returning when “all citizens” in the United States could enjoy equal rights and safety.
That move also revived a feud with Trump that dates back roughly two decades, while giving O’Donnell a new chapter to mine onstage. Now, the personal and political are arriving together: a celebrity who left the country over its direction is back in Manhattan, drawing crowds partly because she kept talking about why she left.
Los Angeles Is Next For A High-Profile TV Return
After the New York run, O’Donnell is expected to head to Los Angeles to guest-host Jimmy Kimmel Live! during Kimmel’s summer break. NBC Los Angeles reported that O’Donnell is scheduled to take over for a week beginning Monday, Aug. 17, putting her back behind a late-night desk and directly back into the political-comedy conversation.
ABC representatives have not confirmed a permanent future role for O’Donnell, but the timing is certainly doing the work of a comeback campaign. For now, New York gets the stage show, Los Angeles gets the late-night desk and Rosie gets something she apparently did not expect to find waiting for her: a fan base that still knows exactly where she is.
