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| Star Jones Fired From 'The View'
From the NY Times Quote:
Star Jones Reynolds's departure from "The View," which she announced on the show today after weeks of rumors, was actually in the works for far longer than even savvy viewers realized. It came more than six months after ABC executives decided not to renew her contract when it expires later this summer, Barbara Walters, the show's co-executive producer, said in an interview after the broadcast.
"They had done a great deal of research, and her negatives were rising," said Ms. Walters, who, like Ms. Jones Reynolds, has been a co-host of the program since its inception nine years ago. "Not so much because of what she did on the air. It was things she did off the air. The audience was losing trust in her. They didn't believe some of the things she said."
Ms. Walters declined to specify what in particular had concerned the network, but Ms. Jones Reynolds drew criticism when she arranged for suppliers to donate items for her wedding in 2004, apparently in exchange for being mentioned on the show.
Yet Ms. Walters said that the timing of today's announcement had caught her off guard, even with all the recent speculation that Ms. Jones Reynolds would leave the show before Rosie O'Donnell, a sometimes critic of Ms. Jones Reynolds, joined it in September. Ms. Walters said she and Ms. Jones Reynolds had agreed to announce the departure on Thursday.
During the commercial break immediately before her announcement, Ms. Jones Reynolds, Ms. Walters and the two other hosts — Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — had been talking about air-conditioning, which was to be the subject of their regular "Hot Topics" segment.
Instead, Ms. Jones Reynolds began the segment by interrupting Ms. Behar to say, "Excuse me one minute."
After clasping her colleagues' hands in hers, she continued, "Something has been on my heart for a little bit, and after much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season, and I will not be returning as co-host next year."
Ms. Jones Reynolds did not mention Ms. O'Donnell by name, nor did she note that her contract was due to expire soon. But in an interview with People magazine completed before today's show and posted on the magazine's Web site shortly after it, Ms. Jones Reynolds said she had been told sometime before the announcement of Ms. O'Donnell's hiring (in late April) that her contract was not being renewed.
"I feel like I was fired," she is quoted as saying in People.
A spokesman for Ms. Jones Reynolds, Brad Zeifman, said today that she was giving no other interviews.
In addition to serving as a co-host, Ms. O'Donnell is to be the show's informal moderator, replacing Meredith Vieira, who left earlier this month en route to the "Today" show on NBC.
Periodic disagreements and undercurrents of tension have always been an element of "The View," which is essentially a kaffeeklatsch, albeit one in front of a studio audience. But Ms. O'Donnell's public criticisms of Ms. Jones Reynolds have been notably sharp. In an interview on "Good Morning America" before the announcement that she was joining the show, Ms. O'Donnell expressed skepticism about Ms. Jones Reynolds's genuineness.
Asked on April 28 about Ms. Jones Reynolds's future in the O'Donnell era, Ms. Walters told a New York Times reporter: "Rosie will be there. And if Star wants to continue to be there, she is welcome."
Ms. Walters said today that when she made those remarks, she was aware that the network did not plan to renew Ms. Jones Reynolds's contract. Asked to explain why she had suggested, erroneously, that Ms. Jones Reynolds would be the one making a decision about her future, Ms. Walters said, "I was trying to protect Star."
Ms. Walters refused to say whether she concurred with the network's decision. But she said she and the show's other co-executive producer, Bill Geddie, had lobbied ABC for months to put off making the final decision.
"They wanted us to tell Star in December," Ms. Walters said. "I said, 'I won't do it before Christmas.' Then in January her book was coming out. We didn't want to hurt her book. Then she told me in February she was having an operation" — a plastic surgery procedure — "I didn't want her to go under the knife with all this stress."
Abbie Schiller, a spokeswoman for ABC's daytime division, said, "The network exhibited utmost patience at every step of the way, but at the end of the day we all felt it was time to move on." On "The View" today, Ms. Walters struck a more conciliatory tone, telling Ms. Jones Reynolds, "From the day you came on this program, nine years ago, I cannot imagine 'The View' being the success it has been without you." A moment later, Ms. Walters added, "Whatever is best for you is what I want, what we all want most for you."
As for her next job, Ms. Jones Reynolds told the "View" audience, "I'm not sure what the future holds."
When Ms. Behar lamented, "Who am I going to fight with now?," Ms. Jones Reynolds tried to reassure her.
"Something tells me you'll have somebody to fight with," she said.
| And ffrom the New York Daily News Quote:
Star Jones Reynolds has launched a bitter counterattack after Barbara Walters sensationally dissed her on yesterday's edition of "The View."
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, the TV diva fought back after the show's creator said she felt let down, and that she was no longer welcome on set.
"For Barbara to say she felt betrayed is the height of hypocrisy," Jones Reynolds said last night.
Walters, who opened yesterday's show with the remark: "And then there were three," told viewers she was surprised when Jones Reynolds interrupted Tuesday's broadcast to say she was quitting.
"We gave her time to look for another job and hoped that she would announce it on this program and leave with dignity," said Walters, confirming Jones Reynolds' contract for a 10th season had not been renewed.
"But Star made another choice."
Speaking candidly to News contributor Jawn Murray, Jones Reynolds said she was humiliated by Walters' decision not only to let her go but to hire archenemy Rosie O'Donnell as co-host.
"Rosie had attacked me on every single evening entertainment program," said the 44-year-old former lawyer. "Barbara used that week to call her and invite her to be part of a show that I helped launch nine years ago."
O'Donnell criticized Jones for not confirming that her 150-pound slimdown was partly due to gastric bypass surgery.
Jones Reynolds recalled the April 21 phone call from her agents telling her she was being dropped from "The View."
"Barbara did not call me herself," she said, bitterly. "After nine years, she didn't call me. They told me my contract would not be renewed because my approval rating had gone down. ... I was like, whoa!"
She claimed producers had previously assured her that her job was safe when she challenged them about replacement rumors.
"I came to work every day. I held my head up. I operated in grace and dignity," she explained. "I knew since April but I still came to work."
The catfight really began after Jones Reynolds told People magazine that "The View" had not offered her a new contract and "I feel like I am being fired."
Fur flew when Walters retorted in an interview that Jones Reynolds "lost the audience" and viewers were turned off by her astonishing weight loss and divalike behavior preceding her 2004 wedding.
Jones Reynolds countered by blasting Walters' decision to install O'Donnell as co-host in the fall. "[O'Donnell] had been so vicious and nasty to me."
O'Donnell couldn't resist another swipe, writing on her Web site blog yesterday that she had spotted swarms of camera crews waiting outside ABC's Manhattan studio.
"Drama is as drama does," O'Donnell wrote. "Everybody breathe."
A source at "The View" said the staff was glad to see the back of Jones Reynolds, adding: "Star has very effectively alienated everybody on the show."
Meanwhile, a friend of the outspoken star said Jones Reynolds and Walters have not been in contact since Tuesday's show.
| Star Jones Farewell Speech Barbara Walters Responds __________________ REVENGE isn't just for breakfast anymore.
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