{"id":695625,"date":"2026-07-16T22:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695625\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:55:11","slug":"rosie-odonnell-shares-new-details-about-michelle-trachtenbergs-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695625\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosie O’Donnell shares new details about Michelle Trachtenberg’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rosie O\u2019Donnell claims Michelle Trachtenberg struggled with addiction before her death<\/a>, calling the loss of her \u201cHarriet the Spy\u201d co-star a \u201ctragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last few years, when she was in pretty bad shape, she would call me and we would talk,\u201d the former talk show host told Variety <\/a>in an interview published Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cI also called her mother to find out what was going on, and her mother told me what was happening, and how long it had been happening,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supposed to see each other three or four times, and she just never showed up \u2014 sometimes at restaurants, other times at my house where we\u2019d had someone prepare the whole meal. I would call her and go, \u2018Honey, are you heading over?\u2019 and she\u2019d go, \u2018Was that today?\u2019 She was not in good shape.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rosie O\u2019Donnell, seen above with Michelle Trachtenberg in \u201cHarriet the Spy,\u201d shared details about her co-star\u2019s alleged struggles before her death at age 39. \u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would call me and we would talk,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said of Trachtenberg, pictured here in 2020. Xavier Collin\/Image Press Agency \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

The talk show icon also said she wished she \u201ccould have done more\u201d for Trachtenberg. \u201cI tried to help her as much as I could, but she was inaccessible toward the end, and it was tragic.\u201d <\/p>\n

The \u201cView\u201d alum, 64, further shared that Trachtenberg \u2014 who died in February 2025 at the age of 39 \u2014 \u201cwas a real genius child who was able to memorize anything, pick up her lines, you could improvise with her, and she was connected and right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so close to her mother, Lana, and her sister, who\u2019s a ballerina,\u201d the \u201cSleepless in Seattle\u201d actress recalled. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell said they were \u201ca very loving family\u201d before the \u201cGossip Girl\u201d actress allegedly \u201cgot into drugs and alcohol, I believe\u201d and she \u201clost touch with her.\u201d <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell, shown here in June, also told Variety that Trachtenberg \u201cwas inaccessible toward the end.\u201d WWD via Getty Images<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell called the \u201cGossip Girl\u201d star \u201ca real genius child.\u201d They\u2019re seen here in \u201cHarriet the Spy.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

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The \u201cFlintstones\u201d star confessed that she \u201cdidn\u2019t think that [Trachtenberg] would die.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWith most people suffering from addiction, their loved ones think that they\u2019ll survive it, but you can die from your addiction to drugs or alcohol, and it happens too often that it must be taken seriously,\u201d she noted. <\/p>\n

A rep for the late \u201cIce Princess\u201d star did not immediately respond to Page Six\u2019s request for comment. <\/p>\n

Trachtenberg died of complications<\/a> from diabetes mellitus on Feb. 26, 2025. Prior to her death, she had\u00a0undergone a liver transplant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg, seen here in 2023, died in February 2025. WWD via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg, pictured above with O\u2019Donnell in 1996, died of diabetes mellitus. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Page Six learned that less than a week before her death, Trachtenberg\u00a0seemed to be \u201cin very bad shape\u201d<\/a>\u00a0while stepping out at Italian restaurant Sartiano\u2019s with pals, where she was said to have appeared \u201cfrail\u201d and could hardly \u201cwalk down the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

After fans expressed concern over a January 2024 Instagram photo, however, Trachtenberg claimed to be \u201chealthy and happy\u201d in an online retort. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve received several comments recently about my appearance,\u201d she captioned a snapshot at the time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rosie O\u2019Donnell claims Michelle Trachtenberg struggled with addiction before her death, calling the loss of her \u201cHarriet the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,2283,47281,15665,2755,96,64788,2839,57151,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-friendships","tag-celebrity-illnesses","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-michelle-trachtenberg","tag-movies","tag-rosie-odonnell","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}