Rosie O’Donnell recently recalled her time on the ABC daytime show “The View.”
The comedian shared during a podcast appearance that the show, known for its controversial nature, wasn’t the best use of her talent.
She also stated that it was not something she would do again if allowed to make a comeback by the showrunners.
Earlier in the year, she was noticeably absent at “The View’s” tribute to late former host Barbara Walters, although she explained that her emotions were the reason for her absence.
Keep on reading to learn more.
‘It Was Not Something That I Would Ever Do Again’
During her recent appearance on an episode of “Now What? With Brooke Shields,” O’Donnell revealed that she doesn’t have happy recollections of her time as a co-host on “The View.”
The tv-personality had a short first run, staying from 2006 to 2007, and at the time, helmed the daytime show alongside Joy Behar, Barbara Walters, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Per Decider, She shared that the show’s penchant for having its hosts engage in heated conversation over political and cultural topics was not a good use of her talent.
“It’s not the best use of my talent to get in a show where I have to argue and defend basic principles of humanity and kindness,” said O’Donnell, whose time on “The View” saw her often lock horns with conservative co-host Hasselbeck.
She then shared that she had no plans to make a comeback, saying, “It was not something that I would ever do again.”
Why Rosie O’Donnell Ended Her First Stint On ‘The View’
O’Donnell’s first stint on the ABC show ended after a heated argument with Hasselbeck over the Iran war.
While it isn’t surprising for spats to occur on the show even at the time, the comedian said she thought her then co-host would know where to draw the line.
“One day on the show, she kind of threw me under the bus, and I was like, ‘Are you f**king kidding me?’ I finished the show, got my coat, walked out, and said, ‘I’m not going back’ — and I didn’t until a few years later, when they asked me to come back,” O’Donnell told podcast host Shield.
The comedienne also pointed out that Hasselbeck was favored by longtime View producer Bill Geddie, who was a Republican and reportedly used her to push the party’s content. This, she said, spurred her to repeatedly engaged Hasselbeck to try to “get her to feel more than to fact.”
Rosie O’Donnell’s Second Stint On ‘The View’
After her first stint on the show, O’Donnell returned in 2015 just as OG host, Walters, retired from the show alongside Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd, who left for personal reasons.
However, barely six months later, she left again to take care of her kids following her split from her wife, Michelle Rounds.
“She’s focused on her kids now. This is the right thing for her to do,” her rep Cindi Berger told People magazine at the time. “The stress of a daily live talk show is a lot – and the separation is a lot, and you reach a certain point where you have to put health and family first, and she has.”
The rep added, “She had a wake-up call in 2012, a near-fatal heart attack, and her doctors told her, ‘You have to take care of yourself, you have five children.’ Reliving her heart attack as she went through the editing process of her [HBO] heart documentary was sobering for her.”
Rosie O’Donnell Was Absent At Babara Walters’ ‘The View’ Tribute
Earlier in the year, O’Donnell made headlines for missing ‘The View’s” tribute to Walters, despite a slew of former co-hosts making a return to honor the icon.
She later explained the reason behind her absence in a TikTok video noting she preferred to mourn privately to avoid getting overwhelmed by her emotions in public.
“Yeah, they invited me, but I wasn’t able to make it,” she said in the clip. “You know, I didn’t want to be in a big group of people and I don’t know, I was worried I would get upset and didn’t want to do that.”
Debi Mazar, O’Donnell’s close friend, took to the comment section to support the comedian’s choice to skip the broadcast and slammed “The View” for what she described as PR antics.
“Mourning is personal & PRIVATE. A display for PR purposes is kind of vulgar in my opinion,” she wrote, per Decider.
