According to the latest reports, The View’ s Whoopi Goldberg owes Rosie O’Donnell big time — despite bad blood in the past — and Whoopi has Rosie to thank for keeping her job on the show.
Following her divorce from her second wife, Michelle Rounds, O’Donnell made the shock announcement that she was leaving The View for the second time because she said she needed to focus on her personal life, and specifically, her children.
However, RadarOnline.com has learned that, according to insiders, Goldberg was just about to get fired before O’Donnell announced her departure, and ABC execs are reportedly “livid” that their casting plans for the show have been messed up.
The report claims that Whoopi’s job was on the line as ABC had enough of her consistent feuding with her co-stars.
As the source revealed, “They were originally going to fire Whoopi. They expected Rosie and Whoopi to fix their issues, but it wasn’t working. The show was barely stabilizing in the ratings so they decided to buy Whoopi out of her contract. They were going to do it after Rosie Perez came back from play rehearsals for a few weeks.”
As irony would have it, before she left, Rosie O’Donnell was allegedly going to be given the lead role in the show as the insider continued, “They were going to give the show to Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace,” added the source. “But Rosie’s divorce saved Whoopi’s job!”
While Rosie was confident and happy with her decision to leave the show, her exit wasn’t supported by everyone, “It was Cindi Berger — Rosie’s own publicist — who told execs not to give her the show. And Rosie’s team is divided about it,” said the source. “That’s because her agents pulled out all the stops to keep her on the show.”
For their part, the whole matter had put ABC in a difficult spot, one they’d certainly prefer not to be in. “ABC is livid because they think it’s hypocritical of Rosie, who’s always been a trailblazer who says she can balance it all between work and home life, to use family issues as an excuse for leaving.”