Rosie O’Donnell has revealed how a seemingly routine commercial break helped turn her second stint on The View into a tense experience with Whoopi Goldberg.
The comedian said she returned to the daytime talk show in 2014 expecting that she and Goldberg would operate like an unstoppable basketball partnership. Instead, O’Donnell believes the longtime moderator may have felt that she was intruding on her role.
O’Donnell also said during her appearance on The Tangle with Kyle Ridley that she intended to participate in The View’s upcoming 30th season as a guest.
However, Entertainment Weekly later reported that there were “no current plans” for her return and that formal invitations had not yet been sent to former cohosts.
Rosie Expected Her and Whoopi to Work Like an All-Star Team
O’Donnell said she respected Goldberg’s career and entered the 2014 season hoping they would share control of the Hot Topics table rather than compete for it. She compared the partnership she imagined to basketball legends Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan passing the ball between them before taking a shot.
“That’s not exactly what happened,” O’Donnell said, according to Entertainment Weekly’s report on the interview. O’Donnell suggested that Goldberg may have “felt encroached upon” even though she had never intended to challenge her position.
She had tried to prevent that kind of misunderstanding before production began. O’Donnell visited Goldberg at her home, where the two shared lunch and discussed how they would approach the season together.
O’Donnell said she assured Goldberg that she supported her and believed she was returning to the show with a clear understanding between them. “I thought I was going in safe and sound,” she recalled. “It didn’t turn out that way from day one.”
A Commercial Break Changed the Tone Between Them
O’Donnell traced one of their earliest difficult moments to an occasion when camera operators were signaling that the program needed to cut to commercials. Goldberg was still speaking, but O’Donnell noticed a brief pause and told viewers that the discussion would continue after the break.
She said Goldberg was “very upset” that she had stepped in and performed a responsibility normally handled by the moderator. O’Donnell discussed the same incident during a 2019 interview with Andy Cohen, saying the disagreement over who sent the program to commercials damaged their working relationship.
The two women also clashed during discussions at the table, including a heated December 2014 exchange about racism in the United States. O’Donnell ultimately left the program in February 2015, five months after returning, saying she needed to focus on her health and family.
Rosie Says She and Whoopi Have Moved Past It
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O’Donnell told Ridley that she and Goldberg have encountered each other several times since their difficult season and are no longer holding onto what happened. She described them as two “grown-ass women” who both support other women.
The former cohosts demonstrated that warmer dynamic when they unexpectedly reunited at a June 9 performance of Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York. They posed backstage with Chasity “Tempress” Moore, who plays Grizabella, and members of the production’s company.
Goldberg showed photographs from the encounter during the following day’s episode of The View. “Yes, Rosie was there,” Goldberg said, according to People’s report on the reunion. “She looked amazing.” Goldberg also mentioned the one-woman show that had brought O’Donnell back to New York and said her former colleague had several projects underway.
O’Donnell offered a similarly friendly account during a later appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live. She said Goldberg had been kind during their recent encounters while describing their season together as a failed attempt at tag-team hosting.
O’Donnell Said She Intended to Join the Anniversary Season
During the podcast interview, O’Donnell said she planned to appear during The View’s 30th season but emphasized that she was not returning as a permanent cohost. “I will go on the 30th anniversary next season,” she said, adding that she would participate “in whatever way they want me.”
O’Donnell said she believed the anniversary plans involved bringing back former hosts to commemorate three decades of the daytime program. Entertainment Weekly reported that no formal invitations had gone out and that the show had no current plans for O’Donnell to return.
She Remains Proud of What ‘The View’ Has Become
O’Donnell first joined the program in 2006, replacing Meredith Vieira as moderator. Her initial run ended in 2007 following an explosive on-air confrontation with Elisabeth Hasselbeck during a political discussion.
She returned in September 2014 alongside Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace before leaving again the following February. O’Donnell said she is proud of how strongly it has come to address politics and issues affecting its audience.
She also criticized the instability former panelists faced during her earlier years on the program, describing an environment in which hosts were repeatedly replaced and rarely felt secure. O’Donnell has expressed little interest in taking another permanent seat.