In 2008 it was rumored that Rosie O’Donnell (47) and Kelli Carpenter had split and ended their marriage. Now Rosie is finally acknowledging that she and her partner of five years, Kelli, are having relationship problems. Rosie did not deny the allegation that Kelli has moved out of their home in Nyack, New York, and into an apartment in Manhattan. Rosie said fighting through her tears in a USA Today interview:

"We’re a family. We will remain a family forever. And we are working on our issues."

"Kelli and I love each other very much and we are working on our issues," a tearful O’Donnell says, emphasizing that the couple’s four children are "a priority." "Those are the only words I am ever going to say. Ever. And that is something that has been agreed upon by all parties. But everything’s fine and everybody’s good and we’re still both raising them together. We will both continue to parent them and we’re friendly and everything’s all right."

When asked about the reports that Carpenter, 42, had moved, O’Donnell simply repeated her first statement.

"We’re a family, we remain a family and we’re working on the issues," she said again.

The interview took place in O’Donnell’s home in the suburbs of New York, and Carpenter was not present.

Whenever you hear the words "agreed upon by all parties" you know this is more than a break, or a split, it’s a divorce.

Unreliable gossip columnist Cindy Adams, who can’t even feel her own pulse, is reporting that Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, aka Kelli O’Donnell, are calling it quits. Adams reports:

WE’RE hearing that the togetherness of Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, the handsome blond gal Rosie calls her wife, may not be so together anymore. They married a few years ago in San Francisco. I remember excited Kelli then showing me her new driver’s license bearing the name Kelli O’Donnell. Whatever other difficulties such a breakup might cause, there is also a houseful of adopted kids they’re raising.

Rosie rushed right out and denied the rumor, then she started a weight loss program that combines watching marathons on TV, while she eats a box of donuts.