Rosie O’Donnell opened up about leaving ABC’s “The View” in a YouTube video Monday.
The comedienne, who suffered a heart attack two years ago, said stress is something all survivors are told to control.
“That’s what I’m doing, is minimizing my stress by leaving ‘The View,’ and the stress that I’m having at home is not easily [remedied],” she said. “It’s hard. Marriage is complicated. I’ve got five kids; four of them are teenagers.”
She added, “There’s lots of stuff going on at home and lots of stuff going on at work. The only thing I can really control is the work, by leaving. I can turn that volume down to zero.”
Breaking away from the daytime talk show will give O’Donnell a chance, she says, to focus on what’s important.
“Which is my health and my family,” she said. “That’s it. I don’t want to talk about it on ‘The View.’ So it was no one’s fault but mine that I didn’t discuss it today. Probably not going to discuss it [Tuesday].”
News broke of O’Donnell’s departure as she was promoting her HBO special “Rosie O’Donnell: A Heartfelt Stand Up” at the 5th Annual Athena Film Festival Ceremony & Reception in New York City.
O’Donnell’s representative confirmed the week of Feb. 9 would mark her last appearance on the show with Whoopi Goldberg, Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez, TheWrap previously reported.
“I can confirm that Rosie and her wife Michelle split in November,” O’Donnell’s representative told TheWrap in a statement. “Rosie has teens and an infant at home that need her attention. This has been a very stressful situation. She is putting her personal health and family first. ABC has been wonderfully understanding and supportive of her personal decision to leave ‘The View.’ Next week will be her last.”
ABC said it “respected and understood” her decision. O’Donnell had rejoined “The View” last summer after departing seven years earlier.
She closed the short video on an optimistic note.
“My last day is Thursday,” O’Donnell revealed. “Peace out, all is well. On we grow people.”