The View Controversy: Are Co-Hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Nicolle Wallace Already Clashing?

"It's just someone who is trying to stir up controversy," an ABC rep says

By Zach Johnson Sep 19, 2014 12:15 PMTags
ROSIE PEREZ, ROSIE O'DONNELL, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, NICOLLE WALLACE, The View CastABC/Lou Rocco

Nicolle Wallace isn't Elisabeth Hasselbeck 2.0.

And yet, the conservative View co-host is reportedly at odds with liberal colleague Rosie O'Donnell—and the show hasn't even been on a full week! On Tuesday, the two disagreed on-air after Wallace claimed President Barack Obama "doesn't love people." O'Donnell fired back, "When Kanye West says, 'I don't think President [George Bush] cares about black people,' it's like an international incident. But you can say that you don't think Obama likes people?" Per The New York Post's Page Six, their heated exchange didn't end there. "Rosie and Nicole were still going at it after the cameras stopped rolling," a source said. "Executive producer Bill Wolff had to call them both in and order them to calm down."

The story also alleged that there is a behind the scenes "power struggle" among other staff.

Juicy as Wallace and O'Donnell's alleged on-set tensions may be, there is no truth to Page Six's report. "This is absurd," a rep for ABC tells E! News. "It's just someone who is trying to stir up controversy."

Wallace had formally auditioned for the gig and auditioned with O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg, who is the sole holdover from last season. "It was very much like The Hunger Games, how they did it," O'Donnell told Variety. Regarding the chemistry tests, she said, "It felt very negative and competitive."

As for the fourth co-host? "I love Rosie Perez," O'Donnell said of the actress, who wasn't in the test group but had co-hosted the program in years past. "I didn't even know she was being considered."

Before the first episode taped, O'Donnell predicted, "I think it's going to be must-see TV. My goal is to come in peace. And the contrast between what the show will be and what it was is going to be glaring."

Thanks to a cast shakeup and brand new set design, The View returned with its best season opener since 2006—which, not coincidentally, was the same year O'Donnell first joined Barbara Walters' talk show.