In 2014, Rosie O'Donnell returned to co-host "The View" for a second season — she had previously appeared on the show from 2006 until 2007. As the "A League of Their Own" star told Brooke Shields on an episode of the "Now What?" podcast, she didn't expect to butt heads with fellow comedian and co-host Whoopi Goldberg, but the tension between them was undeniable. "Bill Cosby was a big topic [at the time], and I wanted to discuss Bill Cosby and Whoopi did not," O'Donnell recalled. This wasn't their only source of conflict, however ... O'Donnell had previously criticized Goldberg for defending defamed director Roman Polanski who was charged with sexually abusing a minor in 1977. Eventually, O'Donnell decided it was time to make her exit yet again.
"Whoopi Goldberg was as mean as anyone has ever been on television to me, personally — while I was sitting there," the "Sleepless in Seattle" actor told Ramin Setoodeh, the author of "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View," per People. According to O'Donnell, "[Goldberg was] Worse than Fox News," and her time on "The View" limited her creatively, forcing her to discuss lipstick shades rather than global politics (as she would have preferred). Despite their complicated history, Rosie O'Donnell still has respect for her former co-host. Still, it's unlikely they'll ever join forces on a talk show again.
