Rosie O’Donnell To Leave ABC’s ‘The View’
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Her tenure short but hardly sweet, Rosie O’Donnell said yesterday that she will leave “The View” in June after less than a year of feuds, headlines, and higher ratings for ABC.
The opinionated host said she and ABC couldn’t agree on a new contract — she wanted one more year, ABC wanted to lock her up for three. So she decided to leave, although she will appear occasionally next season for things like a planned one-hour special on autism.
Ms. O’Donnell made more than $3 million for her season on “The View.” ABC was willing to spend more to keep her but wanted a three-year deal so it didn’t have to worry about O’Donnell as a potential competitor. She could easily command her own talk show for much more money: She was making some $30 million a year before “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” shut down in 2002.
“It just didn’t work,” she said on the show yesterday, “and that’s show biz. But it’s not sad because I loved it here and I love you guys and I’m not going away.”
