![]() Was it difficult? It was my first foray into that world. I was standing there and all this crazy stuff was happening, but I didn’t know anything different. How did you find out Rosie O’Donnell was leaving?įor me, I was sort of like Forrest Gump. I took that assignment to heart and tried to have the kind of political discussions that, while sharp and critical at times, were also fair. The day I got the job, it was expressed to me by Ben Sherwood that he wanted to make it a place where all the candidates for president had to stop. “They are talking about it on the damn ‘View.'” I always felt it was an important show and an important barometer. If a political topic was on their radar, I used it as ammunition with the president or the White House staff. When I worked at the White House, I used to watch the beginning, to see what they were talking about. Everybody wants to do “The View.” It’s this iconic show. Everywhere I go, people stop me and they’re like, “Where can we send a letter?” I’m like, “Don’t send a letter - you’re going to get me in trouble.” Then I think, “Why am I protecting these people? They fired me.” It’s too much to even comprehend how nice they’ve been. Many viewers are upset that you’re leaving. They weren’t interested in negotiating with me. I felt like if it had been two days a week or enough time to have more of a presence, I’d consider it. They asked me to be on “The View” for one day a week. The night your second story ran, they summoned my agent and told me they’d like to consider me for a contributor role, and they also made me an offer at ABC News to do the conventions and debates. What did ABC tell you when they finally called you? Even at MSNBC as a contributor, there’s a lot of conversation and collaboration, but I’d never worked in daytime. Not after a single show, a single Hot Topic or a single interview. I had never had one note from anybody inside the entire organization during the entire season. Had they given any indication they were unhappy with your performance? But I was surprised to learn in the press about their decision not to bring me back. It shattered my naivete about television. I think I thought that I would learn somewhere other than Variety that I’d been fired. Their friendship got me through the final five weeks, which were not how I expected it to end. The special-ness of knowing those two women and becoming their friends, there was never a day where it wore off. ![]() We’d show up, go to the meeting, stay in hair and makeup. You really seemed to get along with Whoopi and Rosie Perez. By Wednesday, it was back to blonde again, and I was feeling better. The first day, my hair was brown because someone told me it should be brown. Presidents practice more than that to throw out a pitch at a minor-league all-star game. Had you met with the other panelists before you started? The casting for season 18 was last minute. Wallace talked about her season on “The View” and how she felt about leaving. She’d just come from MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where she recently re-signed a two-year contract as a contributor. Wallace met up with Variety after she signed off from “The View,” and turned down a role to appear on the show once a week. In July, Wallace was caught off-guard when she learned from a Variety story that she was being fired as co-host of “The View.” But they never gave Wallace a single note - good or bad - all season about her performance. ![]() Bush, received props from viewers and the staff for her laidback style, executives under ABC News president James Goldston decided in the spring that they were dissatisfied that she didn’t bicker with her co-hosts during Hot Topics. ABC News and daytime bosses fought a tug-of-war for oversight of “The View,” until Disney/ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood handed the reins to the news division in October, and O’Donnell exited in January, citing health concerns as a result of a chaotic work environment.Īlthough Wallace, the former communications chief for President George W. There was no shortage of drama behind the scenes. But season 18 turned out to be a tumultuous year for the show, with ratings down 16% compared to the second quarter in 2014. ![]() When Nicolle Wallace was hired as a co-host of “ The View” last September, ABC executives told her they wanted an intelligent, measured Republican at the Hot Topics table opposite Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O’Donnell and Rosie Perez. ![]()
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