Elisabeth Hasselbeck couldn’t help but become emotional as she issued a desperate message to her former The View co-host Rosie O’Donnell this week.
O’Donnell Rips Into Hasslebeck
Hasselbeck, 48, addressed O’Donnell, 63, directly in a series of videos posted to her Instagram Stories on Thursday. In the videos, Hasselbeck begged O’Donnell to “stop the madness” and “stop the lying.” This came days after O’Donnell claimed that her infamous 2007 fight with Hasselbeck on The View was a “setup.”
The argument went down in an episode of The View that aired on May 23, 2007. In the intense exchange, O’Donnell accused Hasselbeck of not defending her against right-wing media criticism of her anti-war sentiments. The fight lasted for ten minutes, and it culminated in a split-screen shoutfest.
Two days after the fight, ABC announced that O’Donnell had been released from her contract.
Earlier this week, O’Donnell claimed in an interview that she “bent over backwards” for Hasselbeck before her coworker questioned her patriotism on live TV. She also expressed her belief that “the whole thing,” referring to their split-screen argument, was “prepared” and a “setup.”
Of course, O’Donnell offered no evidence to back this up. Check out her full comments on this in the video below.
Hasselbeck Fires Back
A visibly emotional Hasselbeck fired back days later, telling her former co-worker O’Donnell to “stop the lying.”
“And even maybe if you don’t stop, I still forgive you,” she said in the since-deleted Instagram Stories. “And it can just be so much more free, Rosie, if you can just stop. Stop the madness, stop the lying and just be free.”
“I really hope that you can be released from whatever this is that’s causing you to cause such harm,” Hasselbeck later added.
Hasselbeck went on to bring up her relationship with The View’s current moderator Whoopi Goldberg. She described Goldberg as being “a friend who doesn’t want me to think how she thinks.” In contrast, Hasselbeck alleged that O’Donnell “time and time again wants to spread lies and hate.”
Hasselbeck then alleged that she “tried to call” O’Donnell after their fight, saying that ABC made her “call and apologize.” She also claimed that O’Donnell is bringing up their 2007 spat “in a way that’s personally attacking me and the integrity of our work there and my personal character.”
“I love my friends who disagree with me, I tried to call you many times and reach out to you after that, Rosie, and you don’t want repair,” Hasselbeck stated. “I have to go here because you won’t respond. If you want to get together and talk, let’s do it, come over and swim in my pool, come take a couple laps, come back to America and enjoy your nation. We can have an open free dialogues about what we disagree on. I’ll make you dinner, what do you want to stop the bullying?”
Relive their 2007 fight in the video below.
‘Stop Lying…’
After expressing her belief that “God has good plans” for O’Donnell, Hasselbeck said that she wants her former co-worker to be “released from whatever this is that’s causing you to cause such harm.”
Hasselbeck ended her rant by accusing O’Donnell of “tearing someone apart who had an opposing view.”
“Stop lying, stop, stop, and in the meantime and even maybe if you don’t stop, I still forgive you and it can just be so much more free, Rosie, if you can just stop,” she concluded. “In Jesus’ name I pray the lies held over you are released and that you can feel freedom and real joy without feeling satisfaction from trying to lie about somebody and destroy their character.”
This comes months after O’Donnell fled America because of her hatred for President Donald Trump. She has since settled in Ireland, where she remains to this day.
Many will certainly find Hasselbeck to be far more credible than O’Donnell has ever been. It will be interesting to see if O’Donnell tries to keep their fight going by retaliating against Hasselbeck for her latest remarks!