Rosie gone for good while ‘View’ looks for temps

By Damara Popoola

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/30/07 – The ashes have settled since the on-screen scuffle between Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s on an episode of “The View” last week. What remains, however, is another vacant seat on the daytime talk-show now that ratings booster O’Donnell has left one month before the June 22 end of her contract.

In the meantime, the show has opted to go the fill-in route, replacing their former outspoken crowd-pleaser with a series of guest hosts, the first of which was Whoopi Goldberg. Tuesday’s panel favored less volatile subjects, but did brush over the topic of O’Donnell’s absence.

Following their heated exchange on the war in Iraq and her subsequent departure, O’Donnell said she might never speak to Hasselbeck again, although she did submit to exchanging e-mails. Despite that statement, Hasselbeck insists the two were “in communication a lot” over the holiday weekend.

“I think this weekend gave us the opportunity to tackle our most important hot topic yet, and that was the power of forgiveness,” Hasselbeck said, “and I believe we’ve begun that process.”

O’Donnell doesn’t seem to be seeing everything so ‘rosy,’ however. Regarding her relationship with Hasselbeck, she said, “”I never tried harder to be friends with someone than I did with her, from the get-go. But I don’t think we ended up there or anywhere close.”

Ever the diplomat, show creator and sometimes host Barbara Walters has done all she can to make the best out of a bad situation. In an on-air message Tuesday, Walters said, “As I said last week, my admiration for [Rosie] and my affection for her — Rosie, if you’re watching — nothing will change that.”

No surprise there given the boon O’Donnell’s candid opinions brought to “The View’s” ratings for the eight months she co-hosted. Between her heavily publicized feud with mogul Donald Trump and her frequent flare-ups with Hasselbeck, O’Donnell single-handedly added a shot of excitement to the once ho-hum show.

High ratings or not, O’Donnell has vowed not to return and ABC execs have publicly claimed no hard feelings. In a statement, Brian Frons, the president of Disney-ABC’s Daytime Television Group, said, “We had hoped that Rosie would be with us until the end of her contract three weeks from now, but Rosie has informed us that she would like an early leave. Therefore, we part ways, thank her for her tremendous contribution to ‘The View’ and wish her well.”