Rosie O’Donnell Reveals Why She Refused To Attend Barbara Walters Tribute On ‘The View’

On Tuesday’s episode of the ABC talk show “The View,” co-hosts of past and present gathered to pay tribute to the late great Barbara Walters, who died last Friday at the age of 93.

One person who was noticeably absent from the tribute, however, was the former co-host Rosie O’Donnell, and she has since taken to social media to reveal why she did not attend. 

O’Donnell Explains Herself

O’Donnell explained herself in a video response to a fan who had commented, “I looked on you on BW tribute today.”

“Yeah, they invited me, but I wasn’t able to make it,” a visibly subdued O’Donnell said in the video. 

“You know, I didn’t want to be in a big group of people — I was worried that I would get upset and um, didn’t want to do that, so, there you go,” she added. 

O’Donnell, 60, had previously taken to social media to say that she was “very sad” to hear that Walters had died.

“What a long and eventful legendary life she had,” she said in another video. “Spoke to every prominent world leader in memory, interviewed everyone who’s anyone, and I was lucky enough to be in her orbit for a good many years.”

Related: Megyn Kelly Slams Barbara Walters As A Terrible Mom After She Dies At 93 – ‘Deeply Disturbed’

Walters And O’Donnell’s History

Walters created “The View” in 1997, and she remained on the program until she retired in 2014. O’Donnell was a co-host of “The View” during the 2006-2007 season, when she signed on to replace Meredith Vieira, but she left the program after just eight months, according to US Weekly.

O’Donnell then returned for the 2014 season, but she left “The View” again in early 2015, saying that she wanted to reduce the stress in her life, according to The Toronto Star.

Daily Mail reported that O’Donnell has been open about her rocky history with Walters in the past. Back in 2019, O’Donnell admitted that she once berated Walters for not defending her when the former President Donald Trump was publicly mocking her during her first stint on “The View.”

“I definitely yelled,” O’Donnell confessed as she acknowledged that she “lost it” on Walters.

“I said how disappointed I was and how shocked and hurt I was that she wouldn’t stand up for me,” she continued. “I felt very betrayed about her going behind my back and speaking to Donald Trump in Trumpian language.”

Related: Joy Behar’s Bizarre Tribute To Barbara Walters After Her Death – ‘She Had An Incredible Blatter’

O’Donnell Crosses The Line

“I said something about her daughter, which I should not have said. But I did,” O’Donnell added.

It’s been reported that O’Donnell went so far as to say, “No wonder Jackie can’t stand you,” referring to Walters’ only child Jacqueline Dena Guber, who she adopted in 1968. Walters and Guber’s relationship was strained at times over the years, and Guber even ran away from home at the age of 15.

Thankfully, the mother and daughter managed to patch things up and appear to have been getting along in Walters’ later years.

During their argument, Walters reportedly did not take O’Donnell bringing up her family laying down.

“Do not speak about my daughter,” she allegedly fired back at the comedian.

Page Six reported that Walters later threatened to quit “The View” if O’Donnell was brought back to the show.

“If you re-sign Rosie to this show, [then executive producer] Bill [Geddie] and I are going to quit,” she allegedly once told ABC Daytime president Brian Frons.

It was only after Walters retired from the morning talk show in 2014 that O’Donnell was briefly brought back to co-host the program. 

After O’Donnell’s offensive comments about her family, perhaps Walters would be glad to see that the comedian decided to skip the official tribute to her on “The View.” Instead of making it look like it was her own choice not to go, O’Donnell might have done better to admit to the world that Walters likely would not have wanted her there.