While Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell only worked on The View together for a year, they often butted heads on air. And since her exit from her show, O'Donnell has explained that their issues with one another started right away. Keep reading to find out why O'Donnell thinks Goldberg "really didn't like" her and how their feud first began. And for more daytime drama, check out Meghan McCain Never Wants to Work With This The View Host Again.
O'Donnell and Goldberg were at odds from the first episode they co-hosted together.
Kathy Hutchins/ShutterstockO'Donnell returned to The View years after her original co-hosting stint, which happened in the 2006-2007 season. When she joined the cast again in 2014, Goldberg was an eight-year veteran, having been a regular since right after O'Donnell's first departure. And O'Donnell's second attempt at co-hosting didn't last any longer than the first. She was out again (by choice) by 2015.
When she was on his Sirius XM show in April of 2020, Howard Stern asked O'Donnell if she'd ever been given the chance to return to The View for a third time. She said no, and that it had been good for her to leave when she did. "I think we all agreed that the last time...it was better for everyone," O'Donnell added. "Whoopi really didn't like me."
She explained that during her first episode back on The View, there was an awkward moment with Goldberg. O'Donnell said that she upset her co-host by cutting to a commercial when the producers were signaling Goldberg to do it. And she claimed that she only did this because she thought that Goldberg had missed the signal.
"From day one, she was upset," O'Donnell said. "I threw to commercial because I didn't know that she saw the countdown...I saw that, and there was a pause, and I said 'well, we'll be right back after this.' And that was the first day, and it was trouble from then on."
And for more on uncomfortable experiences that happened on set, check out Whoopi Goldberg Says This Guest Called The View Hosts an Awful Name.
O'Donnell has claimed that Goldberg was "mean" to her on The View.
John Lamparski/Getty ImagesO'Donnell was one of the hosts who spoke on record to author Ramin Setoodeh for his 2019 non-fiction book, Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Story of The View. During her appearance on his show, Stern quoted O'Donnell back to herself, reading from the book. "Whoopi Goldberg was mean as anyone has ever been on television to me, personally—while I was sitting there," she had told Setoodeh.
"She was mean to me on live TV," O'Donnell told Stern. "When people say, 'Well, what happened,' I say, 'Go back and watch [the episodes].' It's not like a mystery, watch the way it went down."
O'Donnell also added that this was a big reason why she decided that she couldn't stay on the show. "So I was like, 'I gotta get out of here, I can't do this,'" she continued. "I'm not fighting with Whoopi Goldberg, I have no desire to."
For more behind-the-scenes gossip, This Was the Worst Guest The View Ever Had, Former Host Says.
But she's also said that she still respects Goldberg.
RYAN MCCUNE/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesOn Watch What Happens Live in June of 2019, a caller asked O'Donnell if she'd spoken to Goldberg since the release of Ladies Who Punch, which had been a few months before. O'Donnell shared that she bumped into Goldberg at a concert of their mutual friend, Megan Mullally's, band. She said that the meeting "was very cordial" and that they had actually worked together on another project since O'Donnell left The View.
"I'm always going to respect her," O'Donnell told Andy Cohen. "I'm always going to look up to her. She was somebody who was inspirational in my career. And you know, you like to keep those people in a place of reverence, if you can."
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Goldberg has kept her current opinion of O'Donnell to herself.
ShutterstockWhen Goldberg was asked about Ladies Who Punch during her appearance on WWHL in May of that same year, she made it clear that she stood by her decision to not be interviewed for it.
"What happens to me at work is not for everybody," Goldberg said. "I don't like talking out of school, and I don't like other people talking out of school." Cohen then mentioned that O'Donnell had some "strong words" about her in the book. "That's OK," Goldberg responded.
Stern also brought up Goldberg's status with O'Donnell when he was on The View that same month. When he asked the co-host if she was "anti-Rosie or liked Rosie," Goldberg answered, "I don't think about it."
For an awkward guest moment on late-night TV, here's Kenan Thompson Says This SNL Guest Made the Cast "Extremely Uncomfortable."
