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Rosie O’Donnell A Terror On ‘The View’? Producer Accuses Former Co-Host Of Being A Monster In Damaging Lawsuit

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 07:20 PST, Oct 21, 2015

Did Rosie O’Donnell get a producer from The View fired? That’s what one former staff member is alleging. According to the Daily Mail, Rosie O’Donnell was known as “the beast” during her second regime at The View.

Senior producer Jennifer Shepard-Brookman is alleging that she was forced out of a job, a position that she had held for 14 years, by O’Donnell. It’s said that Rosie left the producer “a nervous wreck” after they came to blows over an incident that happened on air with O’Donnell’s reported nemesis Whoopi Goldberg.

Brookman has filed a lawsuit that sheds light on the major turmoil that went on during Rosie’s second short stay on The View. The civil suit, which was filed in New York’s Supreme Court, claims that during a September staff meeting, Rosie had to be physically restrained, when she pinned Shepard-Brookman to a chair while yelling and berating her over something that O’Donnell thought was a slight against her.

It’s said that Brookman was fired for a “vicious” email she sent to Rosie, but before that, it’s said that Rosie made Brookman a nervous wreck. A source close to the situation said that tensions were at an all-time high when Rosie “stormed towards Jennifer and had to be physically restrained by her own staff who were dragging her away, screaming and shouting.”

At the time, Rosie accused the producer of “conspiring with Goldberg” after Whoopi was given the story about James Foley’s beheading to lead with instead of Rosie. O’Donnell felt like she “owned” the story and was upset about Goldberg covering the story.

The source continued that O’Donnell has an “aggressive” nature with people and this lead to a number of troubled relationships with several members of the staff. In another instance, the lawsuit claims that Rosie had a “meltdown” on one of the producers after a heated argument about the marketing of the show. These stories all circled in the media despite Goldberg denying that there was any trouble behind the scenes. The fact that there was stress behind the scenes isn’t a huge surprise.

When O’Donnell quit the second time, she blamed her short stay on stress and taking care of her family. While there was no mention of her troubles behind the scenes at The View, O’Donnell’s rep did mention that she had recently split from her partner, Michelle Rounds.

In 2012, Rosie had an almost fatal heart attack and mentioned on The View that she was being monitored by a doctor. When she eventually left, O’Donnell said she wanted to put her health and family before anything else. The fact that her health was in jeopardy while on The View does allude that there were stressors at work.

As for her family life, O’Donnell hasn’t had an easy year. Her oldest adoptive daughter, Chelsea, went missing, and she was later found with her 25-year-old boyfriend, who has a checkered past with drugs. When Chelsea returned, Rosie spoke out against her boyfriend, who she met on Tinder. This caused Chelsea to run away from home again. She’s now living with her boyfriend in New Jersey. If that’s not enough heartbreak for a parent to go through, Chelsea released a tell-all interview, giving away private details of her family life with Rosie. At the time, Chelsea said that Rosie was two different people.

“I find her not genuine a lot of the time. When we’d go out, she was a completely different person in public than at home and I had a hard time with that.”

Chelsea also alleged that she was raised by nannies her whole life and that she’s not mentally ill, a claim Rosie came out with when Chelsea left home.

A rep for O’Donnell said that the interview was “heartbreaking on every level.”

[Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for SiriusXM]

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