Rosie O’Donnell can not seem to let go her bitterness over her brief and tumultuous tenure with "The View." According to "The Washington Post’s" November 20 "TV Column," Rosie, in promoting her upcoming variety show on NBC, diverted to "The View" stating "I’m not say we loathed each other, but there wasn’t a lot of off-camera camaraderie." Rosie also compared Barbara Walters to a grandmother trying to put a happy face on a severely dysfunctional family. Rosie also promised her show will be free of political discussion.
Later in the morning on "The View," Barbara Walters responded to her former subordinate’s comments, without mentioning her name. Perhaps in reference to Star Jones as well, Barbara demanded "ladies get on with your lives." As Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck claimed they do in fact get along off camera, Elisabeth, to some audience and panel chuckles, and in reference to her notorious fight with Rosie, claimed "we’ve had incredible years, maybe one more difficult in the past." Barbara Walters responded, to more audience laughter, "we will now move on."
The transcript from "The View" follows.
BARBARA WALTERS: You know, we’re really proud of some of our alum, you know, Meredith Vieira, who, you know, has gone on and has this wonderful job, and Lisa Ling. I mean, you know, we take delight in, in people who have gone on. But there are some people who have done this show and then for years feel for years they have to dump on it maybe for their own publicity. And that not only hurts me, but I resent it. So if the shoe fits, lady, get on- ladies, get on with your lives. We are not perfect. We are not always happy, but we’re pretty good.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Yeah.
JOY BEHAR: Yeah, well we’re kind of like a semi-dysfunctional family.
[applause]
HASSELBECK: In good times and in bad.
BEHAR: Yeah, so there’s no reason to go overboard about how we don’t get along. We do get along pretty well, considering that we’re working together for so many years.
HASSELBECK: To do what we do everyday it takes a certain amount of respect, I think, across the table. And we’ve had incredible years, maybe one more difficult in the past, but you know, [laughter] just that’s all I’m saying.
WALTERS: And so, we will now move on.
[laughter and applause]
