Rosie O. to leave The View?

The online tabloid website TMZ has the scoop:

There is a strong buzz in Hollywood that Rosie O’Donnell will announce Wednesday (April 25th) that she is leaving “The View.”

If it happens, it’s likely Rosie will stick it out through the end of the season.

TMZ has spoken with multiple industry people who say the word is spreading and the info emanated from inside the show itself.

Rosie’s rep could not be reached for comment.

Just a hot rumor at this point, but how much do you want to bet Baba Wawa is hoping it’s true? Despite her public defending of Rosie, someone of Walter’s journalistic caliber has to be secretly embarassed by all the unnecessary attention Big Mouth has drawn to a show most people used to view as of the casual coffee klatch variety.

Stephen Sprueill opines:

It’s probable that, like many of our celebrity millionaires, she feels disenfranchised and she’s tired of holding back (hard to believe, but by her own admission she is holding back on The View), so my guess is she’s lined up a deal for a show where she can be more overtly political. The most likely place for such a show would be, dare to dream, cable news. But a return to syndication is also possible.

Rosie O.If it does turn out to be true that she’s leaving the show, I’ll probably be one of the few who will miss her being on there. Not because I like her, but because in my opinion Rosie is the face of today’s left, what with her various conspiracy theories about 9-11, thinking BushCo. is out to steal everyone’s rights, believing that the US is the bigger terrorist than Al Qaeda … these are things so many on the left believe – and even though it’s something we see on the Nutroot blogs often, rarely do we get such a candid everyday view of how far left Democrats have gone that we get with Rosie O. Sure, we can see Harry Reid and others on CSPAN, but – sadly – people don’t pay as much attention to politicians as they do celebrities, and the more celebrity moonbats like Rosie O. speak out, the more people can judge for themselves how wacked out the left has become.

With the speculation of where Rosie would go buzzing around the blogosphere, Lorie Byrd has a great suggestion:

I know one place Rosie would fit in perfectly — on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown show on MSNBC. She would probably give his ratings a huge boost.

Heh. Yep. And would give Allah back, as he describes it, “75%” of his blogging material ;)

Update I 9:37 AM: TMZ confirms that Rosie is indeed leaving The View.

Update II 10:22 AM: ABC News is confirming as well:

April 25, 2007 β€” Rosie O’Donnell is leaving “The View.” ABC has been unable to come to a contractual agreement with “The View” co-host. As a result, her duties on the show will come to an end mid-June.

The president of daytime programming for the Disney-ABC Television Group, Brian Frons, told ABCNEWS.com, “Going in we knew we would have an amazing year with her, and that anything beyond that would be gravy. But we were willing to take the chance because we understood what a coup it was to entice Ro back to daytime television. So here we are a year later, and while we’ve tried to come to terms on a deal that would extend her co-hosting duties on ‘The View,’ we find ourselves unable to agree on some key elements.”

According to Barbara Walters, creator and co-executive producer of “The View,” the departure is an amicable one.

In a statement, Walters said: “I induced Rosie to come back to television on ‘The View’ even for just one year. She has given the program new vigor, new excitement and wonderful hours of television. I can only be grateful to her for this year. I am very sad that ABC Daytime could not reach an agreement with her for a second year. We will all miss Rosie on ‘The View,’ and hope she will be back with us often next season. She remains for me a cherished friend and colleague.”

O’Donnell said: “This has been an amazing experience, and one I wouldn’t have traded for the world. Working with Barbara, Joy and Elisabeth has been one of the highlights of my career, but my needs for the future just didn’t dovetail with what ABC was able to offer me. To all the viewers out there, I just want to say ‘thank you’ for opening up your hearts and your homes to me this past year. But you can always find me at rosie.com. Here’s hoping there’s more confetti for all of us going forward.”

Update III: LOL – Bob Leibowitz suggests Rosie to replace Katie Couric, should the rumors about the perky one being on her way out the door at CBS are true ;)

Update IV: Allah has video of “Ro’s” announcement today on The View. Newsbusters has the transcript.

Update V: Gateway Pundit has video of a crude and rude Rosie making a vulgar gesture in front of an audience that included a group of high school teen girls. (Hat tip: MKH)

Read more via Don Surber, Joe Gandelman, Human Events’ Right Angle blog, James Joyner

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