Rosie O’Donnell jokes about Brian Williams, split from wife

Richard Corkery/new york Day after day News In 2012 Rosie O’Donnell (right) showed off Michelle Rounds’ engagement ring. Now, the two have split and O’Donnell has left ‘The View,’ but she’s able to joke about the news.

Rosie O’Donnell doesn’t know why her marriage fell apart, but she’s ready to joke about it.

“Don’t question,” the star said Saturday with a shrug after an upscale screening of an hour-long standup special at the Athena Film Festival.

It was the amusing lady’s first public appearance since the double-barrel bombshell announcement Friday that O’Donnell would be leaving “The View” and had split with her second wife Michelle Rounds.

O’Donnell joked about her career and home-life upheaval by mentioning that she’s now release and ragging on embattled “NBC Nightly News” host Brian Williams, asking the audience, “Will that deflect from my divorce?”

The comedienne returned to her standup roots with the show, “Rosie O’Donnell: A Heartfelt Stand Up,” which will air on HBO on Valentine’s Day. The standup segments, which include some references to Rounds, were filmed in December before a live audience at Levity Live, a comedy club in Nyack.

Lou Rocco/ABC O’Donnell hugs it out with (from left) Rosie Perez, Whoopi Goldberg and Nicolle Wallace of ‘The View.’

O’Donnell will have bounty of time to work on new material after her departure from her daytime gig.

Sources say ABC execs are in no rush to name a replacement for O’Donnell, 52, who said through a spokeswoman that she was leaving to focus on her family.

The network has been trying to reinvent “The View” since Barbara Walters, who made the show in 1997, retired in May.

The show will likely rely on a revolving door of guest hosts to fill the void left by O’Donnell’s departure.

Lou Rocco/ABC Sources say ABC execs are in no rush to name a replacement for O’Donnell, 52.

ABC representatives touted ratings data Saturday that show “The View” has been enjoying a decent jump over its rival “The Talk” in recent weeks.

The talk show is outperforming its CBS competition in key demographics including the target audience of women ages 18-49.

Bosses at ABC believe O’Donnell will be back . . . as a guest.

“We know she’ll restore to ‘The View’ often with her unique point of view and updates on her work and her family,” the network said in a statement Friday.

Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images Rosie O’Donnell (right) and her second wife Michelle Rounds have called it quits.

O’Donnell’s fleeting stint on the show, her second time as a regular host on the program, was fraught with tension as she often feuded on-air with co-host Whoopi Goldberg and conservative pundit Nicolle Wallace.

Rumors swirled in recent weeks that “Glee” actress Naya Rivera would be joining the show after a series of guest spots.

Rivera was said to be in the running to replace Rosie Perez, who took time off last month to rehearse for her role in Larry David’s upcoming Broadway play “Fish in the Dark.” But Perez returned to her chair full-time last week.

Heartbroken O’Donnell fans took to the star’s Facebook page to lament the sudden news that she would be leaving her daytime gig.

“You are strong and will get through this,” Deb Rhodes posted on a photo that O’Donnell shared of daughter Dakotah Saturday. “We all like and support you. Family first.”