Rosie O’Donnell didn’t back down when guest co-host Mario Cantone dubbed himself Barbra Streisand‘s best friend on ABC’s “The View” Friday.
Cantone sparked the battle when he channeled his inner Streisand — mimicking her voice and mannerisms — while discussing the songstress’ love of kale.
“Don’t you ever do my Barbra like that again!” declared O’Donnell, pointing a stern finger.
“No one loves Barbra more than me. I love her more,” Cantone shouted.
“I love her more than you,” O’Donnell yelled from across the table.
Upping the stakes, O’Donnell quizzed Cantone on Streisand’s birthday. When he failed to give the right answer, O’Donnell wasted no time in blurting the date.
“April 24, 1942,” said a smiling O’Donnell.
Cantone fired back by singing Streisand’s iconic rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the musical “Funny Girl.” O’Donnell wasted no time joining in.
“Don’t tell me not to live, just sit and putter. Life’s candy, and the sun’s a ball of butter,” the pair sang. “Don’t bring around a cloud to rain on my parade.”
The exchange sent co-host Nicolle Wallace and guest co-host, stylist Stacy London, into a fit of laughter. Neither joined in the contest to be Streisand’s best friend. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg was out nursing her back, while Rosie Perez is performing on Broadway in Larry David‘s play “Fish in the Dark.”
Before the duet battle, the panel talked about a recent Zagat survey declaring the reign of kale and bacon over.
“Oh thank, God,” Wallace said. “There’s nothing you can do to kale to not make it taste like dirt.”
Cantone said he can only eat kale when it’s cooked down. London chimed in the conversation, too.
“My sister is a nutritionist. She calls kale the ‘Kim Kardashian of vegetables: it gets all the publicity,” London said.
“If you put kale in the oven and bake them and have little kale chips, they’re delicious,” O’Donnell noted.
Cantone interjected and revealed where he heard O’Donnell’s claim: from a book written by Streisand.
Cue the duet battle.