omigod, Rosie quit!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18868354/
Rosie O’Donnell won’t return to ‘The View’
Rosie O’Donnell has fought her last fight at “The View.”
ABC said Friday she asked for, and received, an early exit from her
contract at the daytime chatfest following her angry confrontation
with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Wednesday. She was due to leave
in mid-June.
It ended a colorful eight-month tenure for O’Donnell that lifted the
show’s ratings but no doubt caused heartburn for show creator Barbara
Walters. O’Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently had snippy
exchanges with the more conservative Hasselbeck.
O’Donnell said last month she would be leaving because she could not
agree to a new contract with ABC executives.
“Rosie contributed to one of our most exciting and successful years
at ‘The View,”‘ Walters said. “I am most appreciative. Our close and
affectionate relationship will not change.”
In a statement, O’Donnell said that “it’s been an amazing year and I
love all three women.”
No one was feeling the love on Wednesday, when the argument with
Hasselbeck began over O’Donnell’s statement last week about the war:
“655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?”
Talk show critics accused O’Donnell of calling U.S. troops
terrorists. She called Hasselbeck “cowardly” for not saying anything
in response to the critics.
“Do not call me a coward, because No. 1, I sit here every single day,
open my heart and tell people what I believe,” Hasselbeck retorted,
and their riveting exchange continued despite failed attempts by
their co-hosts to cut to a commercial.
According to a New York Post report, O’Donnell’s chief writer,
Janette Barber, was allegedly led out of the building on Wednesday
after she was caught drawing mustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck
in “The View” studios. ABC executives didn’t return repeated calls
for questions on the incident Friday.
On Thursday O’Donnell had asked for a day off to celebrate her
partner’s birthday. “The View” aired a taped show on Friday.