Rosie O’Donnell Reveals Former ‘View’ Host Barbara Walters Isn’t ‘up to Speaking to People’ Right Now

The legendary Barbara Walters turned 90 years old last month, but there have been few updates on her health since she retired from The View in 2014. Rosie O’Donnell, who had two stints on The View, provided an update on Walters, revealing that she is not really speaking to many people today. Walters created The View in 1997 and is still listed as an executive producer on the daytime talk show.

“I don’t think she’s up to speaking to people now,” O’Donnell told Us Weekly at The Sound Inside opening night on Broadway in New York City on Thursday. “I think she’s a wonderful woman, and it’s hard to age in America, never mind if you’re internationally famous.”

O’Donnell said she will “always love and respect her and I think she’s a great person.”

The former Rosie O’Donnell Show host appeared on The View from 2006 to 2007 and then again in 2015.
O’Donnell’s comments are similar to what a source told Radar Online late last month. One source told the site her friends have not spoken to her in two years.

“They’re really heartbroken about it, and don’t understand why they can’t visit her,” the source said.

On Sept. 25, The View paid tribute to Walters, with Whoopi Goldberg noting, “Happy birthday to the reason we are all sitting around this Hot Topics table today — it is the birthday of the one and only Barbara Walters.”

“Today – I’m thankful that I got to sit next to Barbara Walters – my friend and mentor – for 10 of her 90 years,” Elisabeth Hasselbeck wrote in her own tribute on Instagram. “Writing about this woman in Point of View was emotional. When I look through these pictures I stand with gratitude from learning from a woman who leaned into stores that most disregarded. She sat with those that no one would sit with, she was a mother through adoption and told JACKIE she was born in her heart.”

Hasselbeck added, “Barbara – though some days we held onto our positions on hot topics with passion-we never let go of one another’s hand. We had some heated moments but those were nothing compared to the warmth of sitting by your side and being your tv daughter. Thank you for loving on me. Tough love and true love.”

Since Walters retired from The View, she has only surfaced for a handful of ABC specials. She has not appeared on The View since she appeared on the 20th-anniversary episode in 2016. Her last American Scandals episode, centering on Michael Jackson, aired back in 2016.