Rosie O’Donnell is clearly not one of the titular “friends” of “Fox & Friends.”
Elisabeth Hasselbeck called into the Fox News morning show while on vacation to slam the reported return of her former “View” co-host.
Hasselbeck said that O’Donnell told her she produced Barbara Walters’ goodbye show, which the current Fox News employee contended was truly intended to be O’Donnell’s “Hello” show.
Also read: Rosie O’Donnell Set to Return to ‘The View’ (Report)
“Talk about not securing the border,” Hasselbeck said of O’Donnell’s reported return on Wednesday morning. “Here in comes to ‘The View’ the very woman who spit in the face of our military, spit in the face of her own network, and, really, in the face of a person who stood by her and had civilized debates for the time that she was there — coming back with a bunch of control, ready to regain a seat at ‘The View’ table. Not surprising, I think that it’s been in the works for a long time.”
Hasselbeck continued: “Go back to the reunion show for Barbara, how odd is this? When you have the woman who again insinuated that our own troops were terrorists in Iraq at the time, then left the show, meanwhile, while still at the end of her contract — to have such ease the day of Barbara’s goodbye show was shocking to me. She walked around with a lot of control and then when I had the chance to talk to her, Rosie herself, told me, on-set while we were mic’d up, that she produced the reunion show to have everybody together and that it was her idea. Now, do you think the woman who left the way that she did would be producing Barbara’s goodbye show? Here’s the shocker, it was actually her ‘Hello’ show.”
Also read: Barbara Walters’ ‘View’ Farewell: 5 Standout Moments From Her Last Show (Video)
Hasselbeck believes the move will have a huge impact on the show, which is experiencing a ton of turnover and suddenly has competition nipping at its heels.
“Anybody who’s going to be in that seat, if indeed this all going to play out as I think it will — or already has — will have to be fully approved by Rosie. Let’s not forget: Whoopi Goldberg is sitting there and Whoopi is not going to let anyone control her. Whoopi is an EGOT. She has actually more trophies in her case than Rosie, she’s the leader on that show. I’m going to be very interested to see how that goes.”
Also read: Jenny McCarthy Teases New TV Show While Explaining Exit from ‘The View,’ Sherri Shepherd Cites God
“I don’t think it would be wise for Rosie O’Donnell to challenge Whoopi Goldberg on anything,” Hassellbeck added. “I really don’t.”
“I do believe that this has been in the works for a long, long time,” she concluded. “She seemed to have a lot of control for Barbara’s farewell show.”
Watch the video above.