NEW YORK --
Rosie O'Donnell has fought her last fight at
"The View."
ABC said Friday she asked for, and received, an early exit from
her contract at the daytime chatfest following her angry
confrontation with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Wednesday. She
was due to leave in mid-June.
It ended a colorful eight-month tenure for O'Donnell that lifted
the show's ratings but no doubt caused heartburn for show creator
Barbara Walters. O'Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently
had snippy exchanges with the more conservative Hasselbeck.
O'Donnell said last month she would be leaving because she could
not agree to a new contract with ABC executives.
"Rosie contributed to one of our most exciting and successful
years at 'The View,"' Walters said. "I am most appreciative. Our
close and affectionate relationship will not change."
In a statement, O'Donnell said that "it's been an amazing year
and I love all three women."
No one was feeling the love on Wednesday, when the argument with
Hasselbeck began over O'Donnell's statement last week about the
war: "655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?"
Talk show critics accused O'Donnell of calling U.S. troops
terrorists. She called Hasselbeck "cowardly" for not saying
anything in response to the critics.
"Do not call me a coward, because No. 1, I sit here every
single day, open my heart and tell people what I believe,"
Hasselbeck retorted, and their riveting exchange continued despite
failed attempts by their co-hosts to cut to a commercial.
According to a New York Post report, O'Donnell's chief writer,
Janette Barber, was allegedly led out of the building on Wednesday
after she was caught drawing mustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck
in "The View" studios. ABC executives didn't return repeated
calls for questions on the incident Friday.
On Thursday O'Donnell had asked for a day off to celebrate her
partner's birthday. "The View" aired a taped show on Friday.
On her Web site, O'Donnell posted a scrapbooklike video on
Friday with pictures and news clippings of her tenure at "The
View." Cyndi Lauper's "Sisters of Babylon" played in the
background.
A day earlier, she posted messages on her Web site indicating
she might not be back.
"When painting there is a point u must step away from the
canvas as the work is done," she wrote. "Any more would take
away."