Lyle Menendez 'helped change' Rosie O'Donnell's autistic child's life
Rosie O'Donnell says convicted murderer Lyle Menendez helped change her autistic child's life.
The 63-year-old comedian felt like she "was kicked in the stomach" when 12-year-old Clay - who adopted a gender-neutral name after coming out as non-binary - was diagnosed with autism in 2010 but she was encouraged to get a service dog by Menendez, who along is serving a life sentence without parole for murdering his parents Jose and Kitty in 1989.
Rosie - who added a pooch named Kuma to her family in January - told the US TV show 'Extra': "I did not know, as the mother of an autistic child who was diagnosed at two years old, I didn't know they had service dogs.
"[Clay] became very disconnected from everyone, [Clay] did not want to go out of the house, so it was just [Clay] and I alone, and we both were suffering, and I didn't know what to do.
"I never heard of it until I befriended Lyle Menendez, we became friends three years ago. He had written me a letter 30 years ago that I did not respond to.
"It was Lyle who said to me, 'I want you to do it. Don't lose this opportunity [to get a service dog]'."
The former talk show host - who has relocated to Ireland with her family following US President Donald Trump's reelection victory in 2024 - has produced a new Hulu documentary called 'Unleashing Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Children with Autism'.
The film documents how service dogs can help improve the lives of those with autism.
The programme, which is available to stream now, also follows the journeys of other families in the Guide Dogs of America programme.
Rosie told Variety: 'When I looked at our dog, I held her face and looked her in the eyes, and said, 'We're going to save my kid.
'And sure enough, we did. I'm eternally indebted, and this organisation is going to be the focus of my fundraising philanthropy the rest of my life."
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