Rosie O’Donnell says she would never go back to The View – at least as long as Whoopi Goldberg is on the panel.
The 58-year-old star, who helmed her own daytime talk show for six seasons, told Sirius host Howard Stern she never considered going back to the ABC chatfest after her second premature departure from the show.
“No, I think we all agreed that the last time, that it was better for everyone,” she told Stern. “You know, Whoopi really didn’t like me.”
In 2007, Whoopi replaced Rosie as The View’s moderator, and when Rosie returned to the show seven years later, she was not given the spot back.
After departing The View in 2007 following a split-screen blowout with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie butted heads with Whoopi on her first day back to the show in 2014 when she mistakenly stepped on her co-host’s toes by cutting to a commercial.
“From Day One she was upset,” Rosie explained of The View moderator. “I threw to commercial because I didn’t know that she saw the countdown. Now, listen, she’s been there forever. Maybe that’s normal. I saw, and there was a pause, and I said, ‘We’ll be right back after this.’ That was the first day and then there was trouble from then on.”
The Rosie O’Donnell Show star said she was under impression that she was to be part of an “ensemble” on The View where the co-stars would toss things back and forth. In addition to Whoopi and Rosie, Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez were on The View panel at the time.
Rosie also said she had been on friendly terms with Whoopi prior to working with her on The View and had hoped they’d be the greatest team of all time. Instead, it turned out, the moderator liked things “the way they were” before Rosie showed up.
When Stern quoted Rosie as saying Whoopi was as mean to her as anyone has ever been, the comedian said it all played out in front of the audience’s eyes on The View.
“She was mean to me on live TV,” she alleged. “When people say to me ‘What happened?’ I say go back and watch them. It’s not like a mystery. Watch the way it went down.”
Rosie also admitted that Whoopi’s treatment of her hurt her feelings “tremendously.” She said she knew it was time to get out of there after one season.
“I’m not fighting with Whoopi Goldberg,” she said. “I have no desire to fight with her.”
In comments to Rosie’s interview on Stern’s Sirius XM YouTube channel, viewers agreed that Whoopi’s animosity toward her former co-star was very noticeable during their time working together on The View.
“I believe Rosie,” one fan wrote. “Whoopi seems like an absolute nightmare to work with.”
Others noted that Rosie was used to being front and center on The View and that she’s not someone suited to being in a supporting role, especially since she was the show’s former moderator.
