ROSIE O’DONNELL: No, I wouldn't.
WALTERS: Not even--You would not want a male nanny?
O’DONNELL: No question about it.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Maybe not for a daughter.
WALTERS: Really?
O’DONNELL: Nope. Not even for a son.
Her reasoning? Rosie applied the same argument proponents of racial profiling use noting, "the vast majority of people who sexually abuse children are male." But the vast majority of men would never sexually abuse children.
Joy Behar, to her credit, stated that neither gender has a monopoly of either good or bad people.
"But the gender alone, I don’t know if that's enough. I mean, you know, some guys are trustworthy, and some are not. Some women, a woman, a female-"
However, Joy could not resist making a crack about priests to the audience’s amusement.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck did not feel comfortable with the idea, but thought it may be good for a boy who has no male influence. Barbara Walters, after pondering, said she’d have a male nanny if she "checked references." The entire transcript is below.
BARBARA WALTERS: I want to say something since you're talking about, about kids. There is a book written by a friend of mine named Holly Peterson and the book-- It's fiction and it's fun. I enjoyed it. And it's called "Manny" because it’s like a-- she has a male nanny in the book and he’s– and it's very interesting how he is with the kids can and so forth. Would you want a male nanny? Because there are many more of them now. You know, they're working their way through college or whatever.
ROSIE O’DONNELL: No, I wouldn't.
WALTERS: Not even--You would not want a male nanny?
O’DONNELL: No question about it.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Maybe not for a daughter.
WALTERS: Really?
O’DONNELL: Nope. Not even for a son.
HASSELBECK: Not even for a son, interesting.
WALTERS: Because you're worried about homosexual tendencies? Is that what you’re saying?
O’DONNELL: No. Pedophilia has nothing to do with homosexuality.
WALTERS: Oh, pedophilia, sorry.
O’DONNELL: Adult males going with children is very different than gays. It has nothing to do with gay. For that reason, I wouldn’t want an adult male that--
WALTERS: Well, what if you checked the references? What makes you--
O’DONNELL: Sorry. No. I don’t know. It's just me, but no.
[Applause]
HASSELBECK: Well, there is a huge trend now for it. And I don’t if they're calling some nannies but a lot of them they’re calling them coaches. You know, if there is not a male influence--
WALTERS: What if it was a boy?
HASSELBECK: If you have a boy, and there is not a male influence in the home, a lot of people hire these men to come in and, you know, teach him, you know, guy stuff, sports and take them out, and, you know, guy stuff.
JOY BEHAR: But the gender alone, I don’t know if that's enough. I mean, you know, some guys are trustworthy, and some are not. Some women, a woman, a female--
O’DONNELL: The vast majority of people who sexually abuse children are male.
BEHAR: A male right. Yeah but there’s--
O’DONNELL: So you're going to hire somebody to take care of your children, I wouldn't choose a male. If you have the option of choosing a female, that’s what I would do.
BEHAR: But there are all kinds of abuse. A female can be emotionally or verbally abusive to a child.
O’DONNELL: I'm not saying that I would pick a crappy female.
WALTERS: You check references and you meet them and you talk to them.
O’DONNELL: But you're asking an honest opinion. Would I hire a man to take care of my young children? The answer is no.
HASSELBECK: I wouldn’t. I probably wouldn’t
O’DONNELL: And you probably wouldn't either.
HASSELBECK: No, unless it was, like their, you know, my brother or --
WALTERS: The book is fun. The book is not that--
O’DONNELL: But would you ever do it for Jackie? Would you have hired a male nanny?
[Laughter]
BEHAR: It's only an hour show, Barbara.
O’DONNELL: I mean seriously, think about it, you know.
WALTERS: If I had checked references, yes I would.
O’DONNELL: You would have.
BEHAR: A priest, perhaps.
[Laughter and applause]
