The Reason Rosie O'Donnell Missed The View's Barbara Walters Tribute

On December 30, 2022, news broke that legendary journalist Barbara Walters died. Her spokesperson Cindi Berger told CNN, "Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women." One of Walters' legacies was her creation of the longstanding all-female talk show, "The View," which she launched in 1997, per Variety. Walters was one of the original panelists, alongside Meredith Vieira, Joy Behar, Star Jones, and Debbie Matenopoulos. Since the start of the show, many others shared the table with Walters, including Lisa Ling, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rosie O'Donnell.

Following her death, "The View" honored Walters with a touching tribute. Goldberg sat alongside current co-hosts Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, and Alyssa Farah Griffin and opened the January 3 show with, "Tributes are pouring in from around the world to celebrate the life of Barbara Walters." Former panelists Ling, Matenopoulous, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Jones, and Vieira made an appearance to honor Walters, either in person or remotely. However, O'Donnell was conspicuously missing, and many wondered where the outspoken comedian was. Eventually, she addressed her absence.

"The View" has had many co-hosts over the years, and most of them showed up on the January 3 show to pay tribute to Barbara Walters — except for Rosie O'Donnell. According to her rep, O'Donnell was on a flight and unable to make the show, per Page Six. Fans took to social media to call out her absence. "I looked for you on BW tribute today," one fan said. O'Donnell replied via her Instagram, "Yeah, they invited me, but I wasn't able to make it. You know, I didn't want to be in a big group of people — I was worried that I would get upset and um, didn't want to do that, so, there you go."

Actor Debi Mazar lent her support to O'Donnell. "Mourning is personal&PRIVATE A display for PR purposes is kind of vulgar, in my opinion. Barbara ADORED you. Remember when she came backstage after your wonderful performance in The Vagina Monologues? She came just for you," she replied. O'Donnell, for her part, had posted her own tribute to Walters on her social media page. "What a long and eventful legendary life she had. Spoke to every prominent world leader in memory, interviewed everyone who's anyone, and I was lucky enough to be in her orbit for a good many years," the actor shared. She went on to praise Walters for breaking barriers for women and concluded her touching video with, "She was the first and she will always be remembered."