Barbara Walters is livid about the leak yesterday that she plans to retire from ABC New and the show she created – The View.
She felt ‘totally ambushed’ and blames ABC executives for the leak, telling friends if they think they are going to push her out, it will not be without a FIGHT.
“Barbara created The View, it is her show. She would rather pull the plug on the entire show than let it go on without her,” one ABC insider tells Naughty But Nice Rob. “Her next live show is Monday and you can expect Barbara is be fighting back. She has not been this angry in a long time.”
‘The ‘Queen of ABC News’ recent illnesses kept her off the air for weeks. But now she is back and has no intention of leaving anytime soon.
“ABC has the power to cut her out of the news division but they cannot fire her from The View. She is the creator, co-owner and executive producer,” says a friend. “Yes, the show needs refreshing but that does not mean getting rid of the shows star. Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck will be replaced and maybe even Whoopi, not never Barbara.”
Rumors about Walters’s retirement kicked into high gear after she first accidentally told President Obama in December 2011 she was thinking of leaving, but that was a joke.
“Her work is all she has. She has no hobbies or interest apart from her job. The only way she will leave the show is feet first,” a member of the show says.