Rosie O’Donnell brands Elisabeth Hᴀsselbeck ‘problematic’

The fight between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hᴀsselbeck on The View that fateful morning in 2007 was one of the most famous TV blowouts ever – and the comedian recently admitted that she still gets heated over the feud, even all these years later.

In a new interview with People, O’Donnell, 64, was asked who her least favorite and favorite co-host was while she was on The View.

She appeared in two different stints – one from September 2006 to May 2007, and then again from September 2014 to February 2015.

‘Listen, it’s known that me and Elisabeth Hᴀsselbeck did not have a great ending to our friendship, so I would say that was the most problematic, perhaps,’ O’Donnell admitted to the outlet.

‘But we did get along right up until the end, and then it blew up on national TV. Sometimes I watch that one,’ she said.

The comedian shared that she can’t watch her idol Barbra Streisand’s 1997 appearance on the show, as it makes her cry.  

‘But if the Elisabeth Hᴀsselbeck fight is on, I’m like, “Let me try to remember what this felt like.” You know?’ she said.

Their infamous feud started on the May 23, 2007, episode of the show. 

Rosie O’Donnell risks reigniting feud with Elisabeth Hᴀsselbeck after notorious blow-up on The View 

Their infamous feud started on the May 23, 2007, episode of the show

What had begun as a conversation about the Iraq war quickly turned into a 10-minute screaming match, as the women then began to insult each other personally.

O’Donnell’s argument with Hᴀsselbeck had referenced an earlier statement from the comedian. 

‘655,000 Iraqi civilians ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Who are the terrorists?’ O’Donnell had asked on an episode of The View from May 17, 2007. ‘If you were in Iraq and another country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?’

The statement was instantly lambasted by right-wing and centrist pundits and commentators due to O’Donnell’s use of the term ‘terrorists,’ but she accused her critics of twisting her words.

O’Donnell felt like Hᴀsselbeck hadn’t come to her defense in public. 

Then, on the May 23 episode of The View, O’Donnell lashed out at her co-host Hᴀsselbeck for failing to publicly defend her, calling her ‘cowardly.’ 

‘Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists?’ the actress asked Hᴀsselbeck in front of the panel.

Hᴀsselbeck indicated that she didn’t believe O’Donnell believed the military was comprised of terrorists, but she urged her fellow host to ‘Defend your own insinuations.’

Then, on the May 23 episode of The View, O’Donnell lashed out at her co-host Hᴀsselbeck for failing to publicly defend her, calling her ‘cowardly’

In March, Hᴀsselbeck reflected on the viral moment during an appearance on The View’s Behind the Table podcast, as she said it was ‘not her favorite day’

As O’Donnell tried to highlight her friendship with Hᴀsselbeck while attacking the conservative co-host for not sticking up for her, Hᴀsselbeck sH๏τ back, ‘You are an adult and I am certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your thoughts; they’re your thoughts!’

Their fellow co-hosts Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd tried to tone down the argument at the time, but to no avail. 

Two days after her showdown with Hᴀsselbeck, O’Donnell abruptly quit. 

In March, Hᴀsselbeck reflected on the viral moment during an appearance on The View’s Behind the Table podcast, as she said it was not her favorite day.

‘It’s wild, that split-screen moment. It determined something. It determined who was coming back,’ she said. 

‘It was a stressful day. It’s not a day that I love. It’s a significant day because I can look back at it now with maturity and think my position would be the same,’ Hᴀsselbeck said. 

The former reality star did maintain that she would not have changed anything about the argument.

‘[I would’ve] maybe tried to be a little bit more physically calm, but I don’t know. I was so pᴀssionate about the issue,’ the TV host explained. 

‘For me, I think that I’m proud to have spoken on behalf of the military, and I’m proud that this is a program that allowed even that pᴀssion to be shared. It’s ugly. It’s not a fun thing to look at.’

Hᴀsselbeck did admit that the heated back-and-forth did take a toll on her at the time and that it affected her friendship with O’Donnell from then on, as she said it had been civil up until that point.

‘I probably cried through the rest of the day. I feel like it created this awful human rift, and I’m not sure it’s ever worth it for that. I do think we’re created for unity,’ she said of the fight. 

‘I don’t think we’re created to have discord, dissension. I think we’re meant to have unity and connection. Even if I can’t see like you see, I like to see where you see it from. I love to get someone’s point of view on something and have love anyway, in that.’

It did change her career path, however, as she admitted to the bombshell argument helping her land a job at Fox News later.

‘It’s why I got hired at Fox, actually. Roger Ailes was like, ‘I saw that, you’re hired,” Hᴀsselbeck claimed.