Access Exclusive: Star Leaves 'The View'

[Bree]

They shouldn't ask Patricia Heaton to come on to replace Star. With Joy, Elisabeth, and now Rosie coming on, that would make four loudmouths fighting for attention.

But good riddance to Star. She's an embarrassment to half of my race. I'm sure she will find another TV job because the industry right now loves to put !@#$%^&*]y diva jackasses all over the airwaves. If she gets her own reality show, it will be the apocoypse, I tell ya!

[KBT]

May I ask who the hell cares for Patricia Heaton, I know I dont!?

[Queen_Nubia]

Nor do I

[Bree]

Patricia Heaton got so unlikeable towards the end of Everybody Loves Raymond, I was praying somebody in that family would have taken an ax to her forehead.

[Ryan]

Awwww [!@#$%^&*] now...

Star's Pissed Of Babs

[King]

Oh god. I hate that dumb whore too. If I had to choose between Star and Babs, I'd choose Star. Sorry, Babs, ya biatch!

[Southofnowhere]

If ABC Daytime were smart they would replace Star with one of their Soapstars like Susan Lucci or Alicia Minshew. Heather Tom or Rebecca Budig would work as well. If they really want to shake things up they should hire Carson from Queer Eye!

[bellcurve]

Heather Tom would be GREAT, but they already have two outspoken libs on the show in Rosie and Joy. I'd like to see Heather rip Elizabeth Hasselbeck a new one.

Funny you should mention Carson from Queer Eye, because I thought it would be fab of Barbara Walters to hire Jim J. Bullock to replace Stah.

I SO think Gayle King is the one to replace the almighty Stah. But we will see.

[Southofnowhere]

Susan Lucci is rightwing but i don't think she would be willing to show her true self. She needs everyone to love her in order to keep on making millions selling stuff on HSN.

[Chris B]

Some gossip I've read...

- Star's replacement will be black

- Renee Elise Goldsberry and Tracy Ross (girlfriends) are strong contenders for temp. co hosts (maybe longer?)

- Barbara was going to announce Star on THURSDAY which is why she's upset.

My personal choice for this is Soledad O'Brien. She's half black and would be the perfect replacement for Meredith. It's clear with Star's exit that Rosie was her replacement. Now they need a good moderator and I think Soledad is the perfect choice.

[Chris B]

Here is a nice article. I do feel the way this has been handled is badly, by ABC and Barbara, but it is true that when Star lost the weight and grew a beard, I began to hate her. It became all about her.

Reynolds' Announcement Upsets Walters

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

2 hours ago

Star Jones Reynolds poses while attending a gala at ...

NEW YORK - The gloves are off for the women on "The View." Creator Barbara Walters said she was "betrayed" by Star Jones Reynolds' surprise on-air announcement of her exit from the daytime talk show Tuesday. Reynolds said in a magazine interview she felt she was fired.

Either way, the "help wanted" sign is up again at the show, months after it was announced that Rosie O'Donnell was replacing Meredith Vieira as a cast member in the fall.

Reynolds' exit had been rumored for months, intensifying Tuesday after reports on "Access Hollywood" and in the New York tabloids that an announcement would be coming soon.

Still, Walters said she was taken by complete surprise when Reynolds announced her departure after the first commercial break on Tuesday. The announcement had been planned for Thursday, she said.

"I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could _ up until this morning when I was betrayed _ to protect her," Walters told The Associated Press.

Walters also said she wasn't aware until she got off the air of Reynolds' People magazine interview. Reynolds, one of the original cast members when the show started nine years ago, said: "I feel like I was fired."

That seems to be the case. Walters said ABC network chiefs had decided last fall not to renew Reynolds' contract because its research showed that Reynolds' dramatic weight loss and 2004 wedding to banker Al Reynolds had turned viewers off. Reynolds had been criticized for a Web site that promoted companies that donated items for the wedding party's gift bags.

"We tried to talk them out of it," Walters said, "and we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience, and the research just kept getting worse."

Reynolds' spokesman, Brad Zeifman, said she would not comment beyond a prepared statement that did not address these issues.

Walters said Reynolds had known for several months that she would not be coming back, before Vieira's announcement in April that she was leaving.

"I would have loved for Star to have left and not said `I was fired,' and not make it look like the program was somehow being cruel to her," she said.

O'Donnell's hiring had nothing to do with the decision, she said. That April announcement had led to widespread speculation over whether O'Donnell and Reynolds could co-exist. O'Donnell had made several caustic remarks about Reynolds, saying that it was dishonest for her to talk about losing more than 100 pounds through diet and exercise without talking about gastric bypass surgery.

On the show Tuesday, Reynolds told the audience that "The View" had decided to move in a new direction.

"I'm not sure what the future holds," she said. "But I'm absolutely sure who holds the future."

Comic Joy Behar looked like she was shocked.

"Who am I going to fight with?" Behar said.

Reynolds replied: "Something tells me you will have somebody to fight with."

[bellcurve]

No [!@#$%^&*]?! Who's your source, honey?

Check this out...apparently, ABC has asked STAH not to shine her bling tomorrow. Hehehe. I guess she wanted out early.

http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,263...-top5-1-1208160

[c0ke]

Seems I have no clue what any of you are babbling about.

[JinkiesP]

This show is just like a soap opera. I still want to know about that fit Cady mcclain was talking about in her blog that fit Terri hatcher threw and what it was over.

[King]

LOL! What a [!@#$%^&*] show! I am recording it tomorrow!