Star Has the Last Laugh
Rosie announced she was quitting the View yesterday after less than a year. She attributed the split to contract negotiations between her and ABC brass (certainly not Baba Wawas!). She said she wanted a 1-year contract and ABC wanted a 3-year contract and they couldn't come to terms. This is about as unlikely as Rosie being the new keynote speaker at the Republican Convention.
Rosie has been highly controversial since joining the ladies of The View and bringing a half a million viewers with her. She calls for the impeachment of the President on a daily basis, she touts gay rights, pushes gun control and being pro-choice. She called Kelly Ripa a homophobe over the Gaykin controversy. She made fun of Donald Trump's combover. She and Elizabeatch rip the claws out everyday and then proclaim how they are such good friends.
Personally, I think it is refreshing to see such honesty on daytime tv. However, given the recent Imus saga, major networks equate being controversial with losing millions in ad revenue. The best catfight ever was during the Imus scandal where Elizabeach was arguing furiously to get Imus fired and Rosie was begging to keep Imus on the air. They were really arguing over whether Rosie should be fired from The View, because both of them knew that if Imus was fired for his insensitive and lame attempt at humor, Rosie's controversial remarks would get her fired too.
It's scary that the whole Imus debacle has ignited a domino effect of censorship in the media. Rosie's antics garnered the much needed ratings that The View needed. However, when it comes down to it, network television is very narrow in the variety of ideas it broadcasts. Rosie turned The View into Crossfire, and Baba wasn't having it. Who knew the ladies of The View would hate Ro so much that they would wax nostalgic for Star Jones?
