Rosie O’Donnell apologizes after false comments on Minneapolis church shooter

Rosie O’Donnell, the liberal actress and comic, apologized on social media Sunday after falsely claiming the Minneapolis Catholic church school shooter was a MAGA supporter, a Republican and a white supremacist.

Last Thursday, O’Donnell posted a video after learning about the attack that left two children dead and 18 others injured, 15 of them kids.

The comedian said the violence reminded her of the Columbine massacre in 1999, when she struggled to comprehend that American students were shooting each other in schools.

Regarding the Minneapolis shooting, O’Donnell pointed out it took place inside a Catholic school and added: “What do you know? It was a white guy, Republican, MAGA person. What do you know? White supremacists.”

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Rosie O’Donnell has been one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent critics in the entertainment industry. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

By Sunday, O’Donnell walked back her comments, admitting she was wrong about the shooter’s identity.

“I knew a lot of you were very upset about the video I made before I went away for a few days,” she said in a new video, adding that she did not have time to read through the comments until Sunday. “You are right. I did not do my due diligence before I made that emotional statement, and I said things about the shooter that were incorrect.

“I assumed, like most shooters, they followed a standard MO and had standard, you know, feelings of… you know, NRA-loving kind of gun people,” O’Donnell continued. “Anyway, the truth is I messed up, and when you mess up, you fess up. I’m sorry. This is my apology video and I hope it’s enough.”

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Rosie O’Donnell photographed in Ireland after her comedy set. (Mark Doyle)

Her apology drew sharp criticism online. One user called it “the most unapologetic apology ever.” Another wrote, “She’s not sorry, she still means exactly what she said.” A third said she was “trying to save face, because she opened her mouth and was so wrong.”

In the comments, O’Donnell replied to one critic, writing, “I was wrong – and I apologize – what more do [you] want?”

Others said the misstep reflected a bigger problem. “It’s good that you apologized, but this is what is keeping this country so divided,” one person wrote. “So much mistruths being spread by both sides. People need to fact check every single political thing that they see because the majority of it is a lie.”

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A memorial honoring shooting victims sits outside the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 28, 2025.   (Tim Evans/Reuters)

O’Donnell’s remarks came less than a week after the gunman opened fire during a Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where students from the attached school were gathered.

The gunfire shattered stained-glass and pew-side windows as students and parishioners ducked for cover.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday the “barbaric” attack appeared to be an act of domestic terrorism “motivated by a hate-filled ideology.”

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Patel said the shooter’s manifesto and writings on firearms expressed anti-Catholic and anti-religious themes, along with violent antisemitic messages. Among them were phrases such as “Israel must fall” and “Free Palestine,” alongside Holocaust-related slurs.