No Star to block your View

It's a catfight on the set of the TV talkfest The View.



Cohost Star Jones — all right, Star Jones Reynolds — rocked her colleagues and the audience earlier this week when she announced on the air that she would not be returning to the show in the fall. Afterward, Star told People Magazine:

I feel like I was fired.

The show's creator and lead host, the venerable Barbara Walters, blasted back on The View the following day — after Star's name had been excised from the opening credits — saying:

It is becoming uncomfortable for us to pretend that everything is the same at this table. Therefore, regrettably, Star will no longer be on this program.

In other words, Star baby, don't let the door hit you in your newly svelte fanny on your way to the parking lot.

Apparently, the bad blood began brewing when The View hired Rosie O'Donnell to replace the departed Meredith Vieira, who took Katie Couric's seat on Today. Rosie and Star have exchanged barbs publicly on several occasions, and doubtless no one at The View was eagerly anticipating watching these two outspoken women struggle to share screen time.

According to Baba Wawa, another factor was that research showed that The View's audience never forgave Star for spending months pimping various companies on the show in exchange for their contributions to her headline-grabbing wedding two years ago.

It will be interesting to see who Walters and her production staff hire to replace the brassy, bombastic former attorney.

I wonder what Marla Gibbs is up to these days.