How do you really feel, Julie Chen?
When Chen appeared on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live Tuesday, a viewer asked her to comment on a recent report in The New York Post's Page Six. The article in question claimed Barbara Walters is "furious at ABC" for ruining The View's legacy following her 2014 retirement.
"She feels they've ruined the franchise that she and Bill Geddie built. Instead of focusing on smart, educated women with strong talent, they cast uninformed child actors on the show," a source told the gossip column. "The legacy has been compromised because of poor casting and bad leadership under ABC News." On the flip side, Walters' rep insisted she "has a wonderful relationship with the show." Furthermore, she remains an executive producer on the long-running series, and she "calls the control room multiple times a week to offer her suggestions."
An ABC rep told Page Six, "There's no better producer than Barbara Walters, and we're always grateful for her notes about the show. The ratings are up, and we're very proud of the team."
Prior to her retirement, Walters told Variety she wouldn't be watching The View after her exit. "I think it will make me feel bad," she said. "I think I will miss it. If I don't see it, I won't miss it."
But, according to Chen, where there's smoke, there's fire.
"I believed every word I read in Page Six," she told Andy Cohen. "There were contradicting sides, and I believed all of it was true. You know? Because there's a little bit of truth to everything. Someone said, 'Oh, she calls the control room and we take her notes seriously.' I was like, 'She calls the control room. I don't know if you take her notes that seriously. You probably make her feel like you're taking it that seriously, but she doesn't feel that way.'"
Chen, co-host and the moderator of the CBS' rival show The Talk, doesn't believe the show will last long. "I do think Barbara Walters is probably like, 'This amazing show I created is now just kind of withering away with a revolving door of hosts that people can't keep straight,'" she said. "I mean, I should know all the names of the hosts, and I don't, because it changes so often."
Joy Behar, Jedediah Bila, Paul Faris, Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin are the current co-hosts. In October, Raven-Symoné announced she was leaving The View to focus on her acting career. Candace Cameron Bure followed suit when she signed off late last week.
(E! and Bravo are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
In response to Chen's interview, an ABC spokesperson tells E! News, "The View is going strong and we are very proud to continue Barbara Walters' legacy that started almost 20 years ago."
In spite of its high turnover rate, The View is the only broadcast daytime show experiencing year-to-year improvement in Women 25-54 (+11 percent) and Women 18-49 (+20 percent).