Barbara Walters Allegedly Threatened to Quit 'The View' Over Rosie O'Donnell
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A year after the comedian joined the talk show, the TV anchor and then-EP Bill Geddie seemingly agreed that the only way to save the show was to have O'Donnell out.

AceShowbiz - Barbara Walters created "The View" back in 1997. She assigned Joy Behar, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos and Meredith Vieira to join her as co-host, before adding comedian Rosie O'Donnell in 2006 to replace Jones. However, their relationship reportedly turned sour along the way, enough to make Walters want Rosie out from the daytime talk show.

As O'Donnell was said to be causing the show to get some negative response from Kelly Ripa and Donald Trump, she also fell out of favor with then-executive producer Bill Geddie. And according to Ramin Setoodeh's forthcoming book, "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View", Walters and Bill seemingly agreed that it's better to have O'Donnell exit the show to save the show as well as the former's reputation as a respected, legitimate news anchor.

Setoodeh claimed that Walters and Giddie threatened to quit the show if O'Donnell stayed. "If you re-sign Rosie to this show, Bill and I are going to quit," Walters allegedly told ABC Daytime President Brian Frons in 2007 over dinner at Spago in Beverly Hills.

Just like she wished, O'Donnell did not return for the next season. "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" host, however, made a brief comeback in 2014 for one more season following Walters' departure.

O'Donnell apparently is not the only one whom Walters had issues with. Prior to this, Setoodeh revealed that Jenny McCarthy, who served as co-host from 2013 to 2014, described her experience on the show as "miserable."

She also compared Walters to Joan Crawford's abusive character in "Mommie Dearest". "Every day I went home and I was miserable," McCarthy told the author. "It really was the most miserable I've been on a job in my 25 years of show business."

Additionally, the book revealed that Elisabeth Hasselbeck threatened to storm off the daytime talk show after having a heated argument with Walters. Hasselbeck allegedly ranted at Behar, "What the f**k! I don't even swear. She has me swearing. This woman is driving me nuts. I'm not going back. I can't do the show like this. She just reprimanded me, and she knew exactly what she was doing." She continued, "Goodbye! I'm off. Read about that in the New York f***ing Post!"

Setoodeh's "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of 'The View' " is slated to hit the shelves on April 2 via Thomas Dunne Books.

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