**Update: It's official, she's outta there. She and ABC could not agree on her new contract, so she is leaving mid-June. That's almost two months of blog material yet to come and now that she knows she is leaving, I can't even imagine what she might say. Update 11:05: Rosie says she will still be at The View to guest host, but just won't be there every day. Barbara Walters says she is sad and makes clear she did not participate in the negotiations. Rosie says she was not pushed out. No news on a replacement -- heck they still haven't replaced Star Jones. Remember my suggestions -- Star Parker and Mary Katharine Ham. ABC isn't that smart though.**
TMZ is reporting strong buzz that Rosie will be announcing that she will leave The View.
There is a strong buzz in Hollywood that Rosie O'Donnell will announce Wednesday (April 25th) that she is leaving "The View."More at Wizbang Pop.If it happens, it's likely Rosie will stick it out through the end of the season.
TMZ has spoken with multiple industry people who say the word is spreading and the info emanated from inside the show itself.
If this is true, I am surprised, but not shocked.
Update: Although I have written a lot on Rosie O'Donnell's rants on The View, I have only touched on a small fraction of the crazy things she has said and didn't even bother to write about her latest embarrassing performance at the Matrix luncheon for women in communications.
If this is true, as I said, it is not a shock. In a column I wrote at Townhall, Rosie O'Donnell is Bad News, I listed a few of the outrageous things she has said. I am not for censorship, but I am for responsibility, and in that column and in some of the Wizbang posts listed below I said that Barbara Walters and ABC have to take responsibility for allowing Rosie to spread inaccurate information and wild conspiracy theories. She is free to say whatever she wants, but with that freedom comes responsibility. If the story of her leaving is true, it will be interesting to hear whether ABC and/or Walters wanted her to leave or if she felt too constrained and did not want to be in an atmosphere where she felt she was not free to speak her mind.
I think Rosie's demeanor has changed some since the 9/11 conspiracy stuff, and even more so since the Imus firing. Since then she has talked in what appeared to me to be a slower, more deliberate tone, as if she thought the things she was saying might not seem as unhinged if she did not raise her voice or wave her hands around. It sounded to me as if she was measuring each word before saying it. That is just my observation, though. I have watched more frequently lately, but still only catch the first 20 minutes or so of the show a couple of times a week.
I know one place Rosie would fit in perfectly -- on Keith Olbermann's Countdown show on MSNBC. She would probably give his ratings a huge boost.
Update II: Allah points out what I said to a few people in emails when I heard the news of Rosie possibly leaving the View about all the blog material that will be lost. Rush Limbaugh must have felt kinda like this when Bill Clinton left office. Glad he was leaving, but a bit sorry to see all that talk radio fodder gone. Of course Bill Clinton has yet to leave the stage and I expect the same might be true of Rosie O'Donnell.
Update III: If this report is true, it is somewhat disturbing. Did ABC really want Rosie to be the future of The View? If ABC would put a smart, articulate conservative woman on the show like Mary Katharine Ham or Star Parker, I think they would see ratings soar, especially if they let them mix it up with Joy Behar and another liberal. I know Elisabeth is somewhat conservative, but rarely had a good command of the issues or the facts. She didn't sign on to a political show, and did the best she could. She often did a great job holding her own against a loud, rude, interrupting Rosie, but she is just not a political animal. Why don't the networks recognize the successful Fox News formula is based on offering different points of view, including conservatives? CBS missed an opportunity when they chose Katie Couric and I fear ABC will probably miss another one when they replace Rosie. Heck, they have not even replaced Star Jones yet. It might be a while before we know who Rosie's replacement will be.
Others blogging:
Michelle Malkin
Pajamas Media
Ace
Newsbusters
Sister Toldjah
Don Surber
Previous Wizbang posts:
Rosie says Fox is Slanted Propaganda
Rosie is Insane
Rude Rosie
Rosie and the Terrorist
Rosie broken up over KSM's treatment while in US custody
Rosie O'Donnell's Gulf of Tonkin Rant
Rosie O'Donnell, Poetess
Deconstructing Rosie
Unbelievable Even for Rosie
Riding on Buses with Rosie



Comments (22)
Too bad the same medicine c... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Zelsdorf Ragshaft III | April 25, 2007 12:51 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Too bad the same medicine cannot be applies to the Senate Majority Leader.
1. Posted by Zelsdorf Ragshaft III | April 25, 2007 12:51 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 00:51
2. Posted by Jim Addison | April 25, 2007 12:52 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I heard Jenny Craig offered Rosie the big bucks. Eat your heart out, Kirstie Alley!
2. Posted by Jim Addison | April 25, 2007 12:52 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 00:52
3. Posted by marc | April 25, 2007 1:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Good, it confirms the rumor I've heard.
She's next appearing at The Restaurant as the End of the Universe.
3. Posted by marc | April 25, 2007 1:19 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 01:19
4. Posted by Gianni | April 25, 2007 5:23 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
She needs a Betty Ford type retreat to address her fat, ugly, ignorant, and angry issues.
Its still a damned shame that she is responsible for raising a child. Thats pretty cruel!
4. Posted by Gianni | April 25, 2007 5:23 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 05:23
5. Posted by Judith | April 25, 2007 6:31 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
She is just too painful to watch. I was originally offended by her nonsense. Then she defended herself by hanging upside down and stating that she suffers from a deep depression for which she is medicated and has intensive therapy. Now I look on it as an obscenity of our culture that we pay to watch a person self-destruct while the idiots in the audience cheer on her destruction and her fellow panelists enable her self-humiliation. I can't stand her but I also can't stand the show putting on a very sick person as entertainment.
5. Posted by Judith | April 25, 2007 6:31 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 06:31
6. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 8:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Is Rosie leavin the view?"
Are the buffalo becoming extinct?
I think She left our view a long time ago?
6. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 8:37 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 08:37
7. Posted by DJ Drummond | April 25, 2007 8:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Judging by his latest vacation-from-reality rants, it looks like Harry Reid wants to take Rosie's place as the Designated Lunatic on The View.
Not that the other, hmm, women on that show are much more sane.
7. Posted by DJ Drummond | April 25, 2007 8:45 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 08:45
8. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 8:53 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yes DJ but Elizabeth is oh so hot!...
on a different note' "Twister kills 9 on Texas/Mexico border (AP)"
Mother nature doin the job politicians refuse to do!
ugghh! that was bad..!
8. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 8:53 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 08:53
9. Posted by Oyster | April 25, 2007 9:03 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's not a matter of being permitted to say what she wants. She can shoot her mouth off all day long and say anything, anything at all. It's a matter of whether she's guaranteed a platform for all that trash talk. And she's not. But some will twist it to be a free speech issue.
If Rosie leaves, I'll bet dollars to donuts it will be because of mutual agreement. It won't be her decision singularly.
When the show's ratings go up, it's merely comparable to rubberneckers being drawn to a 17 car pile up; i.e. when her spat with Trump brought ratings up. It's certainly not because of it's intellectual value. But then, they call it "ratings" when it's really just "viewership".
9. Posted by Oyster | April 25, 2007 9:03 AM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 09:03
10. Posted by langtry | April 25, 2007 9:15 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
10. Posted by langtry | April 25, 2007 9:15 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 09:15
11. Posted by kim | April 25, 2007 10:10 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
She reached for her towel and only came up with one tiny square Scottie.
===========================================
11. Posted by kim | April 25, 2007 10:10 AM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 10:10
12. Posted by kim | April 25, 2007 10:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Beam me where?!
============
12. Posted by kim | April 25, 2007 10:11 AM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 10:11
13. Posted by Dan | April 25, 2007 10:46 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but Donald Trump predicted that she'd be gone within 6 months (to a year) last January.
I'm no fan of that guy, but he should get a little credit for his foresight. When he said it at the time, I just thought he was blowing more Trump smoke. He drives me nuts, but I think this may vindicate him (somewhat) in the whole Rosie dust-up.
This is what he said in an interview with Greta Van Susternenenenenrensen, or however you spell it:
"Let's see what happens. I really look forward to talking to you the next time, in a year or in six months, because I guarantee Rosie will self-destruct. She sort of always seems to self-destruct."
13. Posted by Dan | April 25, 2007 10:46 AM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 10:46
14. Posted by Eric | April 25, 2007 10:54 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Contract dispute? I suppose if Rosie wants to renew her contract and ABC doesn't then technically it is a contract dispute.
14. Posted by Eric | April 25, 2007 10:54 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 10:54
15. Posted by drjohn | April 25, 2007 11:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Have you seen her ass?
15. Posted by drjohn | April 25, 2007 11:28 AM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 11:28
16. Posted by metprof | April 25, 2007 11:52 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yes doc John I have. I suspect it's got a beeper for backing up.
16. Posted by metprof | April 25, 2007 11:52 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 11:52
17. Posted by metprof | April 25, 2007 11:54 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
In addition, she could probably hide a dozen or so illegals in there and run the border, now that she's unemployed.
17. Posted by metprof | April 25, 2007 11:54 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 11:54
18. Posted by drjohn | April 25, 2007 11:55 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You needed to see the outtake from "The View" to get the reason for that quip.
It had to do with the toilet paper.
Nevertheless, you're quite right.
18. Posted by drjohn | April 25, 2007 11:55 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 11:55
19. Posted by Jo | April 25, 2007 1:25 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I hope Rosie is loving all the attention she's getting from the left and the right; and of course ALL the news outlets that have gone to tabloid news lately.
19. Posted by Jo | April 25, 2007 1:25 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 13:25
20. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 2:29 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Rosie's a mighty fine lookin Bison!
20. Posted by 914 | April 25, 2007 2:29 PM |
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Posted on April 25, 2007 14:29
21. Posted by Brian | April 25, 2007 6:45 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Lorie, I'm sorry that you're losing the one Democrat that you've for some reason decided to obsess over and pretend is representative of the >70% of America that doesn't watch The View and yet still disagrees with you. Since you seem to prefer your Rosie to addressing actual issues of the day, then perhaps you can find a replacement someone in a game show or soap opera to whom you can direct your rage instead. I hear those CSI actors are pretty liberal.
21. Posted by Brian | April 25, 2007 6:45 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 25, 2007 18:45
22. Posted by Otter | April 26, 2007 5:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I hear Brian is one of them.
22. Posted by Otter | April 26, 2007 5:28 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 26, 2007 05:28