Rodman had a highly publicized affair with
Madonna in 1994. Madonna arranged to meet Rodman by interviewing him for
Vibe magazine. They were intended to appear on the cover of the June/July 1994 issue, but it was shelved by the founder
Quincy Jones. Rodman claimed that they attempted to conceive a child because Madonna had offered him $20 million to impregnate her.
Family Rodman married his first wife Annie Bakes in September 1992. Their relationship was marred by infidelities and accusations of abuse. They divorced after 82 days. Nine days later, Rodman filed for an annulment claiming he was of "unsound mind" when they married. They reconciled, but Electra filed for divorce in April 1999. In 1999, Rodman met Michelle Moyer, with whom he had a son,
Dennis Jr. ("DJ", born April 25, 2001) and a daughter,
Trinity (born May 20, 2002). Moyer and Rodman married in 2003 on his 42nd birthday. Michelle Rodman filed for divorce in 2004, although the couple spent several years attempting to reconcile. The marriage was officially dissolved in 2012, when Michelle again petitioned the court to grant a divorce. It was reported that Rodman owed $860,376 in child and spousal support. DJ started playing college basketball for
Washington State in 2019. He later transferred to
USC in 2023. Rodman's daughter
Trinity is a professional soccer player for the
Washington Spirit and the
United States national team. In a 2024 interview, Trinity stated she rarely heard from him while growing up, and as an adult, saying, "He’s not a dad. Maybe by blood, but nothing else." On July 14, 2020, Rodman's father Philander died of prostate cancer in
Angeles City, Philippines, at age 79. Dennis had previously reconciled with his father in 2012 when he made a trip to the Philippines after decades of being estranged.
Alcohol issues Rodman entered an outpatient rehab center in Florida in May 2008. In May 2009, his behavior on
Celebrity Apprentice led to an intervention which included
Phil Jackson as well as Rodman's family and other friends. Rodman initially refused to enter rehabilitation because he wanted to attend the
Celebrity Apprentice reunion show. In 2009, Rodman agreed to appear on the third season of
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Rodman remained a patient at the Pasadena Recovery Center for the 21-day treatment cycle. A week after completion he entered a sober-living facility in the Hollywood Hills, which was filmed for the second season of
Sober House. During episode seven of
Sober House, Rodman was shown being reunited with his mother Shirley, from whom he had been estranged for seven years. During this same visit, Shirley also met Rodman's two children for the first time. On January 10, 2010, on the same day that
Celebrity Rehab premiered, Rodman was removed from an Orange County (California) restaurant for disruptive behavior. In March 2012, Rodman's financial advisor said, "In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic. His sickness impacts his ability to get work." On January 15, 2014, Rodman again entered a rehabilitation facility to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. This came on the heels of a well-publicized trip to
North Korea where his agent, Darren Prince, reported he had been drinking heavily and to an extent "that none of us had seen before."
Legal troubles Rodman has settled several lawsuits out of court for alleged
sexual assault. In August 1999, Rodman was arrested for public
drunkenness and spent the night in jail after he got into an altercation at Woody's Wharf in
Newport Beach, California. The charges were eventually dropped. On November 5, 1999, Rodman and his then-wife,
Carmen Electra, were charged with misdemeanor
battery after police were notified of a domestic disturbance. Each posted bail worth $2,500 and were released with a temporary restraining order placed on them. The charges were dropped the next month. In December 1999, Rodman was arrested for drunk driving and driving without a valid driver's license. In July 2000, Rodman pleaded guilty to both charges and was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines as well as attend a three-month treatment program. In 2002, Rodman was arrested for interfering with police investigating a code violation at a restaurant he owned; the charges were eventually dropped. In April 2004, Rodman pleaded
nolo contendere (no contest) to
drunk driving in
Las Vegas. He was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 30 days of
home detention. On April 30, 2008, Rodman was arrested following a
domestic violence incident at a Los Angeles hotel. On June 24, 2008, he again pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor spousal battery charges. He received three years of
probation and was ordered to undergo one year of domestic violence
counseling as well as 45 hours of
community service, which were to involve some physical labor activities. On November 21, 2016, Rodman was charged with causing a
hit and run accident, lying to police, and driving without a license following an incident on
Interstate 5 near
Santa Ana, California, in July. In February 2017, Rodman pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay restitution and donate $500 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund. In January 2018, Rodman was arrested for driving under the influence in Newport Beach. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and received three years of probation. In May 2019, the
Los Angeles Times reported that Newport Beach yoga studio owner Ali Shah accused Rodman of helping steal over $3,500 worth of items from the studio's reception area, including a decorative
geode. Rodman disputed the account, claiming the owner told him "Dennis, get anything you want." No charges had been filed at the time of reporting. On October 18, 2019, Rodman was charged with misdemeanor battery after slapping a man at the Buddha Sky Bar in
Delray Beach, Florida. Rodman was one of the victims of professional scam artist/fraudster Peggy Ann Fulford (Peggy King, Peggy Williams, Peggy Ann Barard,
etc.), losing $1.24million, amongst the $5.79million in total she stole from him,
Ricky Williams,
Travis Best,
Rashad McCants,
Lex Hilliard and others. Fulford's crimes included stealing funds Rodman believed were being distributed as child-support payments he owed to his first wife, contributing to an unsuspecting Rodmanin 2012being left trying to explain the missed payments in an Orange County, California, court; the issue was clarified when Fulford was indicted by the FBI in 2016. In 2020, Rodman endorsed and campaigned for the
presidential campaign of rapper
Kanye West.
North Korea visits On February 26, 2013, Rodman made a trip to North Korea with
Vice Media correspondent
Ryan Duffy to host basketball exhibitions. He met North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un. Rodman and his travel party were the first Americans to meet Kim. He later said that Kim was "a friend for life" and suggested that President
Barack Obama "pick up the phone and call" Kim, since the two leaders were basketball fans. On May 7, after reading an article in
The Seattle Times, Rodman sent out a tweet asking Kim to release American prisoner
Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea. He said that Kim has a daughter named
Kim Ju Ae, and that he is a "great dad". He also noted that he planned to train the
North Korean national basketball team. He stated that he is "trying to open Obama's and everyone's minds" and encouraged Obama to reach out to Kim Jong Un. In December 2013, Rodman announced that he would visit North Korea again. He also said that he has plans to take a number of former NBA players with him for an exhibition basketball tour. According to Rory Scott, a spokesman for the exhibitions' sponsoring organization, Rodman planned to visit December 18–21 and train the North Korean team in preparation for January games. The games were scheduled for January 8 (Kim Jong Un's birthday) and January 10, 2014. Included on the U.S. exhibition team were
Kenny Anderson,
Clifford Robinson,
Vin Baker,
Craig Hodges,
Doug Christie,
Sleepy Floyd,
Charles D. Smith, and four
streetballers. Rodman departed from Beijing on January 6. Among his entourage was Irish media personality
Matt Cooper, who had interviewed Rodman a number of times on the radio. Rodman made comments on January 7, 2014, during a CNN interview implying that Kenneth Bae was at fault for his imprisonment. The remarks were widely reported in other media outlets and provoked a storm of criticism. Two days later, Rodman apologized for his comments, saying that he had been drinking and under pressure. He added that he "should know better than to make political statements". Some members of Congress, the NBA, and human rights groups suggested that Rodman had become a public relations stunt for the North Korean government. On May 2, 2016, Kenneth Bae credited Rodman with his early release. He said that Rodman's rant raised awareness of his case and that he wanted to thank him for his expedited release. On June 13, 2017, Rodman returned to North Korea on what was initially described as a sports-related visit to the country. "My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," he said. He added that he hoped to accomplish "something that's pretty positive" during the visit. He met with national Olympic athletes and basketball players, viewed a men's basketball practice, and visited a state-run orphanage. He was not able to meet with Kim Jong Un, but met instead with the nation's Minister of Sports and gave him several gifts for Kim, including two signed basketball jerseys, two soap sets, and a copy of Donald Trump's 1987 book
The Art of the Deal. Rodman posted a video on Twitter that was recorded before he left for the visit in which he and his agent describe the mission of the trip. "He's going to try to bring peace between both nations," said Rodman's agent Chris Volo, referring to the strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Rodman added, "That's the main reason why we're going. We're trying to bring everything together. If not, at least we tried." Rodman's "hoops diplomacy" inspired the
20th Century Fox comedy
Diplomats.
Tim Story and
Peter Chernin are set to produce the film, while Jonathan Abrams is reportedly writing the script. Rodman visited North Korea again in June 2018. "I'm just happy to be a part of" the
2018 North Korea–United States summit, he said, "because I think I deserve it." There has been speculation that Rodman might be an
intelligence officer working for the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on North Korea, with the CIA
neither confirming nor denying existence of records concerning his employment.
Presidential involvement suggested The Washington Post raised the question of whether President Donald Trump sent Rodman on his 2017 visit to negotiate the release of several American prisoners of North Korea or to open a back channel for diplomatic communications. The U.S. State Department, White House officials, and Rodman all denied any official government involvement in the visit. Rodman, who publicly endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, is a self-described longtime friend of the president and, as the article put it, "Trump and Kim's only mutual acquaintance." Rodman publicly presented a copy of Trump's book,
The Art of the Deal to North Korean officials, as a personal gift for Kim Jong Un. In a Twitter video posted by Rodman, his agent Chris Volo said, "He's the only person on the planet that has the uniqueness, the unbelievable privilege of being friends with President Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un." Warmbier, who was in a nonresponsive coma throughout much of his imprisonment in North Korea, died days after being returned to his family in the U.S. In an emotional interview with
Michael Strahan of
Good Morning America, Rodman expressed sorrow for the death of Warmbier and said, "I was just so happy to see the kid released. Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill. No one knew that." He added that he wished to give "all the prayer and love" to the Warmbier family and had contacted them and hoped to meet with them personally. Rodman's agent, Chris Volo, told ABC News that before they left for the 2017 trip, he had asked North Korean officials to release Warmbier as a symbol of good faith for any future sports-relations visits. "I asked on behalf of Dennis for his release three times," Volo said. ==Works==