Gone With the (Mighty) Wind

Is anyone surprised that Rosie O'Donnell won’t be coming back to "The View"? Ever since she and cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck shouted each other down on Wednesday's show like guests on "Jerry Springer," O’Donnell has been suggesting on her blog that she’s done with the show. (Rosie’s last day, officially, was supposed to be June 21.) Today, before ABC announced Rosie wouldn’t return, she posted a video that showed ripped-up photographs of her, Barbara Walters and Hasslebeck. If Barbara Walters fumed when Star Jones gave an interview to People magazine saying Barbara fired her, imagine how she felt about Rosie’s public displays of disaffection. In fact, Walters told NEWSWEEK last fall that she hoped Rosie wouldn’t use her blog to bash the other women on the show. The title of Rosie’s latest video? “True Colors.”

The trouble on “The View” started this week, when the girls were talking about their big date with Emmy. Rosie said that the award belonged to Barbara, for being smart enough to hire her. Cohost Joy Behar said maybe they hadn’t gotten the award yet because Emmy voters just didn’t like someone else on the show (a.k.a. Star Jones), suggesting the as-yet-unwon Emmy might not be about Rosie at all. That comment, Rosie later revealed on her blog, hurt her. But Rosie was even more wounded by Elisabeth. Rosie complained that Fox News had been running a report that said she was calling our troops terrorists. Rather than defend her, Elisabeth tried to explain how Fox might have reached that conclusion. (O’Donnell is in fact an outspoken critic of the war and has lately been positing various 9/11 conspiracy theories that implicate the U.S. government.) Later that day, Rosie posted questions from readers that said Elisabeth wasn’t a true friend. On Wednesday, the fireworks finally went off, with Barbara—lucky for her—not on hand to moderate. Said Rosie: “Here’s how it gets spun in the media: ‘Rosie, big fat lesbian loud Rosie, attacks innocent pure Christian Elisabeth'.”

Upon her return Thursday, Walters announced: "Aunt Barbara is back and there will be peace in the kingdom." But the catfight got nastier. While Rosie defended herself on her blog, Elisabeth went on a media tour, giving interviews about how she felt after the fight. Geraldo Rivera even expressed concern for the health of Elisabeth’s unborn child. Rosie was originally just supposed to take Thursday off. But, then, someone reportedly drew moustaches on some of Elisabeth’s studio portraits later in the week. (The New York Post pointed the finger to Janette Barber, the show’s head writer, who works for Rosie). Late Friday, ABC released a touchy-feely statement saying that Rosie was gone.

So what really happened? Was Rosie fired with only three weeks left on her contract, or did she quit? The show’s producers edited Wednesday’s yelling match (which is broadcast live) like a trashy talk show—giving both Elisabeth and Rosie the split-screen treatment. Rosie sarcastically blogged “imagine my surprise” later that day. Despite all the bad blood—scratch that, because of it—the show’s ratings are at a 10-year high, and they certainly would have surged following the fight. Surely ABC didn’t want to miss out on that windfall. Further complicating matters: “The View” is a safe bet to take home its first-ever Emmy in the category of best daytime talk show host on June 14. Rosie had already mentioned on Monday’s show that she wasn’t going to attend, because of a school event for one of her children. Now when the other women take the stage, the entire TV world will probably think they’ve stolen the award from her.

The loser in this big fight, though, will be ABC. They’ve fired other cohosts of “The View” before (Debbie Matenopoulos, Star Jones), but neither of them had the same rabid following as Rosie. While many people hate Rosie (enough already, Donald Trump), she has tremendously loyal fans. Her decision to bail will likely cost the show viewers when it resumes next week.

So what will Rosie do for an encore? She’ll announce her next act soon, or so she’s hinted on her blog. We rank the choices: