Rosie on Her Rantings: 'I Think a Woman's Voice Needed to Be Heard on Network TV'

Outgoing "View" co-host Rosie O’Donnell announced on the May 7 edition that she has "given up fighting" and that people already know her views. Co-host Joy Behar joked "that is such a lie. You know you’ll never give up." Rosie stated she does not want to yell at Elisabeth because she’s pregnant and that may not be healthy for her unborn child.

After Barbara alluded to her self-admitted "love letter" of Rosie O’Donnell in Time’s 100 most influential people in the world, Rosie announced that she does not "really love to fight" and implied her fringe views speak for women.

"I don't really love to fight. I just -- you know, I think a woman's voice needed to be heard on network TV so I came and said my piece."

The other co-hosts seemed offended as Joy Behar joked: "What are we, transvestites?" Barbara Walters noted the nine seasons of "The View" and exclaimed: "We’ve had nine years on the air when women’s voices were heard."

Token non-liberal Elisabeth Hasselbeck was absent as she attends the White House’s state dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. Unlike Hasselbeck’s last absence, "The View" actually substituted a right of center woman, Republican strategist Amy Holmes.

In Barbara's gushy Rosie O'Donnell piece, "The View" co-executive producer noted Rosie's "passion and compassion" and noted Rosie's announced departure "was for me a plunge on the roller coaster."

"And so, last September, we began a thrilling roller-coaster ride. We followed Rosie's passion and compassion, her feuds and fearlessness, her humanity and humor. When Rosie and ABC couldn't come to an agreement for her to return to the program next fall, it was for me a plunge on the roller coaster. But we remain respectful and affectionate friends.

[...]

"Rosie, 45, is a fine actress, a great storyteller and a woman of conviction. Her opinions are heartfelt, passionate and often abrasive. Her views are not necessarily my views, but in her heart, she dearly hopes to be a force for good, a voice for people like her who are vulnerable and perhaps neglected. Her mother would be proud."

The entire transcript is below.

ROSIE O’DONNELL: Yeah, talk to me about it. I've given up fighting. I think people know my views. You agree or you don't.

JOY BEHAR: That is such a lie. [laughter] You know you’ll never give it up.

O’DONNELL: Well, you know, truthfully I have a hard time yelling at Elisabeth because she's pregnant. I just refuse to do it. Because I think the baby trumps any kind-- no offense -- any kind of political argument because, you know, I don't want her blood pressure to go.

BARBARA WALTERS: You don't want the baby, you know, to say, whatever is going on inside the baby he says: "What's all that noise?"

O’DONNELL: Exactly.

WALTERS: But, you know, in the "Time" magazine list that came out, I guess today, of the 100 most influential people in the world, Rosie is one of them. [Applause] And I wrote, I wrote the love letter underneath. But, anyway, what it says, is under her picture, it says something like the lady who loves to fight? Is it something like that?

O’DONNELL: I don't really love to fight. I just -- you know, I think a woman's voice needed to be heard on network TV so I came and said my piece.

[Loud Applause]

BEHAR: Wait a second.

WALTERS: We've had nine years on the air when women's voices were heard.

BEHAR: What are we, transvestites?

WALTERS: What are we, chopped liver?

O’DONNELL: I’m just saying I–

WALTERS: For nine years we were on the air.

O’DONNELL: You have to admit, I kicked it up fight wise, right?

BEHAR: Yeah that’s true.

O’DONNELL: Alright, I kicked it up a notch. That’s what I mean. [loud applause] I don't mean it to be insulting. It sounds insulting, but I don't mean it to be.