Call It Deja 'View': Rosie O'Donnell Leaving Morning Chat Fest Again
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Rosie O'Donnell is leaving "The View."
Again.
ABC announced Friday that O'Donnell is leaving the morning chat show to concentrate on her family.
O'Donnell, 52, will make her second swan song from the program next week. She is expected to leave the show Friday.
Several weeks ago, the struggling program was reportedly ready to jettison co-host Rosie Perez. Variety blared: "Rosie Perez To Exit 'The View' " on Jan. 24.
ABC later denied it was planning to ax Perez, who has been rehearsing a new Larry David play on Broadway. O'Donnell seemed blindsided by the announcement and adamantly said on air that Perez wasn't going anywhere. An ABC source has since been quoted as saying the network was trying to avoid "an Ann Curry" situation where the public turned on a show for dumping someone in less-than-ceremonial terms.
"Rosie [O'Donnell] is an immensely talented star who comes in each and every morning brimming with ideas, excitement and passion for the show," an ABC rep said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter."When she told us that she wanted to exit 'The View,' we respected and understood her desire to put her well-being and her family first. We're delighted she's still part of the ABC family with upcoming guest appearances on 'The Fosters.' And we know she'll return to 'The View' often with her unique point of view and updates on her work and her family."
When "The View" returned to the air in September after an annual summer hiatus, on-air friction between O'Donnell and co-host/moderator Whoopi Goldberg was palpable.
O'Donnell was the moderator on "The View" in 2006 and famously clashed with conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. A heated on-air exchange between the two of them in May 2007 about the Iraq war led O'Donnell to quit the program.
O'Donnell clashed with Goldberg with show insiders suggesting O'Donnell was not a team player. Goldberg, for her part, made several attempts on air to say because she disagreed with O'Donnell, and often, did not mean they were at odds with each other.
From day one, TV insiders weren't betting on a long O'Donnell tenure on the show with her being a second banana to Goldberg.
The tabloids have had a field day, also suggesting work tensions at "The View" on and off camera were causing O'Donnell to have friction at home as well.
O'Donnell is also reportedly leaving her wife, Michelle Rounds, after nearly three years of marriage. The two adopted a baby girl two years ago. The New York Post's PageSix reported that the two have been separated for months. O'Donnell had been noticeably mum about the subject of marriage and her relationship in recent months.
"The View," a long-running hit for ABC, has taken a ratings hit. The show has lost nearly 10 percent of its audience from last season.
Earlier this week, co-executive producer Brian Balthazar announced he was quitting after only a few months to return to a production executive job with HGTV.
"The View," formerly produced under the aegis of ABC Entertainment, is now produced by the news division.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that ABC is ready to cancel the show in favor of expanding "Good Morning America," but that move would be a logistics and programming nightmare for some ABC affiliates who run shows like "Kelly and Michael" in the 9 a.m. time slot.
