'The View': Rosie O'Donnell Skips Barbara Walters Tribute - Here's Why
Rosie O'Donnell was missing during The View's Barbara Walters tribute episode on Tuesday. Although the two had a rocky relationship during O'Donnell's time on the ABC talk show, there was no dramatic reason for her skipping out. Walters died on Dec. 30 at 93, and O'Donnell was one of her many colleagues to honor Walters' legacy.
O'Donnell's representative told TVLine the comedian was invited to appear on Tuesday's episode. However, she was "on a plane and couldn't change her schedule," O'Donnell's representative said. A View spokesperson also said O'Donnell was invited to the show.
Walters created The View, which launched in 1997. O'Donnell joined the show in 2006 but left at the end of the season. After Walters retired from the show in 2014, O'Donnell returned. Her second tenure was also short-lived, as she left in 2015. In the 2019 book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View, Ramin Setoodeh reported that Walters told ABC she and executive producer Bill Geddie would quit if O'Donnell was welcomed back for the 2007-2008 season.
After Walters died, O'Donnell shared a gracious tribute to the legendary journalist on Instagram. "What a long and eventful legendary life she had," O'Donnell said. "Spoke to every prominent world leader in memory, interviewed everyone who's anyone, and I was lucky enough to be in her orbit for a good many years."
O'Donnell also shared a fun anecdote about going to Broadway shows together. She tried to help Walters walk backstage, but Walters refused her help. "She [knew] what she was doing I could tell you that," O'Donnell said. "May she rest in peace and may everyone remember just what barriers she broke down for women. She really did, she was the first, and will always be remembered."
Although O'Donnell missed the tribute episode, other former View co-hosts stopped by. Current panelists Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffith shared their memories of Walters at the top of the hour. Behar later invited Star Jones, Meredith Viera, and Debbie Matenopoulos onstage to talk about being part of the first season of The View. Lisa Ling, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd also appeared in the episode.
"She was tough on me, but I appreciated it because I learned everything from her. She single-handedly changed my life," Matenopoulos, who was only 22 when Walters hired her for The View, said, via Entertainment Weekly. Matenopoulos recalled how Walters praised her after she interviewed her for The Insider. "[Afterward] she said to me, 'You know what, baby, I always knew I was right. I am so, so proud of you,'" Matenopoulos said. "And, truly, all my life, all I wanted to do was make her proud."