Rosie O’Donnell recently decided to reveal that she had a secret facelift, and further explained why when asked about it on the red carpet at the 2026 Tony Awards.
The comedian, 64, revealed on her Substack last month that she had gotten a facelift, admitting that she felt “embarrassed” and that it cost more than she had ever paid for a car.
O’Donnell attended the Tony Awards in New York City on Sunday and detailed why she thinks it’s important to be public about her plastic surgery.
“In this day and age, authenticity is the goal, and people lie to the American public about everything all day long,” she told E! Red carpet news. “It’s so depressing and anxiety-inducing for me. And I wanted to be honest and talk about all the mixed feelings I was having about it because I think all that matters is truth and love.”
But she reiterated that not everyone in her life supported her decision to go under the knife for cosmetic reasons.
“A 13-year-old with autism said to me, ‘If you do that, I’ll never respect you again,'” she recalls. “That put me off for a few months, but when I went and did that in January, I came back 10 days later and they didn’t notice at all.”
The “Harriet the Spy” star said she felt it was better to speak the truth about the matter before herself and act before it was exposed by the tabloids.
“I just wanted to say, ‘This is what I did. Here are the doctors, and if you want,'” she said. “But it’s very expensive. It’s more expensive than any car I’ve ever bought, but I can’t drive it in my right mind.”
O’Donnell said she had solved the problems she wanted – sagging skin and two lines on her face – and has no plans to undergo any more plastic surgery.
“I’ve been taking Munjaro for the last three years. I also have diabetes and have lost over 50 pounds, which has led to a lot of extra skin around my face,” she told the magazine.
In a post on Substack, O’Donnell said she was happy with the results of her expensive plastic surgery. She also shared some unfiltered before and after facelift photos on Instagram.
“I wanted to be the same person I always was, just…less obsessed,” she wrote. “And I look like me, a slightly more well-rested, emotionally stable version of me.”
“I didn’t disappear or become a different person. I just stopped arguing in the mirror,” she added. “And maybe that’s all there is to it. Or at least…if you think about yourself, that’s what a facelift for a low-level depth plane would look like.”
