As ABC continues to both publicly and privately audition potential co-hosts for The View, returning host Rosie O’Donnell is assuring her fans on Twitter that there will not be any “jerk” joining the show to fight with her and Whoopi when it returns this fall.
On Friday morning, O’Donnell sent this tweet in response to a plea from YouTube celebrity Michael Buckley (AKA Buck Hollywood):
@buckhollywood – fear not – won't happen #stayPOSITIVE
— Rosie (@Rosie) August 8, 2014
Buckley and O’Donnell were likely referring to a series of screen tests that ABC has reportedly been producing this week, testing out nine different women to fill what is expected to be two permanent co-host spots on the show, following the departures of Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy. According to multiple sources, the nine possibilities are:
CNN’s S.E. Cupp
ESPN’s Jemele Hill
Bloomberg TV’s Stephanie Ruhle
October Gonzalez
CNN’s Sunny Hostin
CNN’s Ana Navarro
Good Day L.A.’s Lauren Sanchez
ESPN’s Sage Steele
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace
As for which of those ladies might be considered a conservative “jerk,” TMZ is reporting that Cupp got into a “nasty” debate over abortion rights with O’Donnell and the show’s only remaining current host Whoopi Goldberg during Thursday’s test taping. Apparently, O’Donnell told Cupp she doesn’t want another Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the show. Of course, it’s exactly that type of partisan fireworks that ABC likely wants to preserve on the show.
In addition, TMZ has a production source that quoted Goldberg as saying after the taping that she has been “working with a cranky 85-year-old woman who’s mad about everything for two years, and I need a break,” presumably in reference to show creator Barbara Walters, who recently went into semi-retirement.
An ABC spokesperson disputed that report, telling The Wrap, “Someone has tried to stir this pot before. This is absolutely absurd. Whoopi is a consummate professional and has an enormous amount of respect for Barbara with whom she has a professional and personal relationship. Unless you were there and heard it first hand, this is nothing more than mean and hurtful rumor.”
[Photo via screengrab]
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