A shrill, backstage brawl at “The View” Wednesday left co-host Rosie Perez in tears while panelists Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell battled over how to cover the latest allegations against Bill Cosby and the racially charged upheaval in Ferguson, Mo., sources said.
O’Donnell believed the show — now overseen by ABC News — needed to delve deeper into both controversial subjects, while Goldberg wanted to steer clear of the topics altogether. Ultimately, both news stories were discussed at length on the air by the panel.
“There’s terrible frustration and there are problems,” a source close to the show told the Daily News. “Whoopi didn’t want to talk about Cosby and Ferguson, Rosie (O’Donnell) did — how could you not? These are topics that are uncomfortable for everyone, but it’s ‘The View’ and it’s their job to talk about topics that might make some people tense.”
That tension boiled over in a meeting before the show to plan the day’s “Hot Topics” segment.
“Rosie (O’Donnell) was yelling at everyone. First, she had a fight with Whoopi and then she had a fight with the producers,” a “View” staffer said.
But at least two show sources claim that while she’s “frustrated” at times with the show and its producers, O’Donnell has not raised her voice or “yelled at anyone for at least a month.”
One staffer said, “These are just two very smart women (Goldberg and O’Donnell) who insist that they need to be able to talk freely about topics that are meaningful.”
After the meeting, a teary-eyed Perez was consoled by producers — but sources said that the film star has also been drawing her own share of internal criticism and may be feeling the pressure.
“She’s constantly correcting herself because she’s constantly screwing something up,” sniffed the insider. “She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Naturally, “View” officials downplayed the incident.
"This story is mean-spirited and greatly exaggerated by someone who is obviously disgruntled and has some agenda,” “View” spokeswoman Lauri Hogan said. “There was no fight.”
But it’s clear that nerves are beginning to fray at “The View” this season as its ratings are down compared with last year — even after ABC spent millions drastically restructuring the show with a new panel of hosts, new producers and a new studio.
This is far from the first time that the new panel has sparred.
Just two weeks into the new season of the show, O’Donnell and Goldberg tore into each other during a commercial break while a stunned studio audience looked on.
Like the latest spat, the argument occurred over the show’s “Hot Topics” segment. Show officials have said that having strong opinions is part of the job.
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