Barbara Walters blasts back at Star Jones! Barbara was 'betrayed'

[LynnieD]

BABA BLASTS STAR


SAYS SHE'S 'BETRAYED' AS JONES QUITS 'VIEW'
By DON KAPLAN and PAULA FROELICH


June 28, 2006 -- A furious Barbara Walters said yesterday she was blindsided and "betrayed" by Star Jones Reynolds when the formerly corpulent commentator quit "The View" in the middle of a live telecast, and later said she'd been fired.
"I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could - up until this morning, when I was betrayed - to protect her," Walters said.

Jones didn't mention getting axed when she said goodbye on air - but soon afterward, told People magazine her contract had not been renewed for a 10th season on the daily talk show.

"I feel like I was fired," she told the magazine, which posted her interview on the Internet while she was still appearing live on "The View."

Walters was not aware of the posting until after the telecast ended.

"I would have loved for Star to have left and not said, 'I was fired,' and not make it look like the program was somehow being cruel to her," Walters said.

ABC officials did not return repeated calls and it was not known last night if Jones will be seen on "The View" today - or again.

On the air, Jones said, "After much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season and I will not be returning as co-host next year."

Walters said ABC brass decided last fall not to renew Jones' contract. "We tried to talk them out of it and we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience," she said.

A show source said Jones made her surprise announcement so her fans would turn against the show.

"She took back some control and it doesn't look good for the show," the source said.

"She does have fans and they won't like that she was forced out for Rosie [O'Donnell]," the source said.

Jones and O'Donnell have been feuding for months, ever since O'Donnell blasted Jones for not admitting how she lost 150 pounds so quickly.

Although Jones has never admitted to it, it is believed she underwent gastric-bypass surgery two years ago.

The show has announced that O'Donnell will be joining the show to replace Meredith Vieira.

A show insider was not surprised about Jones' departure, saying she'd made enemies by seeking expensive gifts, such as a diamond-studded pair of boots - and a free wedding.




"She was always very self-absorbed and was always putting the show and the company [ABC] in a very funny position," the insider said. "She would compromise everything by demanding and getting free stuff - breaching all sorts of [ABC owner] Disney policies."

In one instance, the source said, the show's co-hosts were told to attend a meeting where they were asked by producers to stop accepting expensive gifts.

A few weeks later, after appearing on an episode that originated from Dallas, Jones went home with a pair of diamond-studded cowboy boots that had been featured in a fashion segment, according to the source.

Walters also was reported to be furious with Jones' bizarre "bridezilla" behavior before her 2004 wedding, when she demanded free goodies from wedding suppliers in exchange for mentioning their names in magazine articles and on TV.

Jones said through a spokesman that she never accepted any diamond-studded boots and never violated ABC's gifts policy.

Additional reporting by Braden Keil

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationaln...a_froelich.htm


DID ANYONE SEE THIS???? I didn't and really wished I had. Did she actually quit mid-air??? This is getting awesome.

[sluce]

Yeah - she has so many fans that will now boycott the show - RIIIIGHT!!! Just one more example of her petulant childish behavior. It's all about Star all the time. I had to laugh at source who was quoted sticking up for Star. Must have been her own publicist.

[equallydivided]

I'm thinking it's very good for the show, not the opposite. I couldn't watch it due to a high gag reflex (that I don't normally have). Weird.

[GoldDust77]

the formerly corpulent commentator

hehehehe ...Good riddance you ugly saggy bitchy old hag!

[LynnieD]

^RIGHT!

I wish I had seen it.....dammit!!

[tulip]

DID ANYONE SEE THIS???? I didn't and really wished I had. Did she actually quit mid-air??? This is getting awesome.

Yes - I did. I don't know why I turned on the show yesterday, but I did and she quit during the first segment. Everyone was shocked that she did it then and there. Dipsy Elisabeth said she'd miss complimenting Star on her shoes each day.

[Bellatheball]

I watched it but must have missed that. Anthony Michael Hall wished her well but there didn't seem to be a blow up. Damn, I must have missed the good stuff.

As for Babs, whatever. I doubt ABC "brass" had any more say in the matter than Babs did. She hired Rosie, right? She knows they hate each other. I'd have so much more respect for Baraba Wawa if she just said, "Star overstepped her bounds too many times and her leaving was in the best interest of the show."

[justagirl05]

Star was not on Wednesdays show. And I quote on Wednesday's program, Walters said, "It is becoming uncomfortable for us to pretend that everything is the same at this table. And therefore, regrettably, Star will no longer be on this program."

[LynnieD]

^^AWESOME!! Warms the heart.

Team Walters!!

[Laurent]

I can only hope it was a crushing blow to Starzilla's ego that no one at ABC, nor Barbra Wawa gives a shit if she leaves or not.

[AliceInWonderland]

Team Babs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next stop, suicide for Star!

[Elisa]

I'd be the last person to defend Star - believe me! - however, I don't see anything wrong with what she did. She was fired and she said so. If the others were trying to save face it was probably more for their own benefit than Star's. I don't see why they suddenly have a problem with Star telling it like it is - she always did!

If I was fired (and she was and admits such), I'd make my own choice about how I was going to tell the public. At least she was being honest.

[Bellatheball]

^^ I agree (although it kills me to do so). I really think Babs is pissed because Star made Babs look like the bad guy and, in all likelihood, she is the bad guy.

[Beeyotch]

Fired is NOT the same thing as your contract not being renewed. That's the way contracts work. They're under no obligation to keep renewing it, even if she expected them to. Which Star knew and that's why she should have kept her ego in check.

Now her ego is bruised that ABC no longer wants her (for good reasons stated in the article) and she had to be vindictive and make ABC look like the bad guy. Thoroughly unprofessional.

[A*O]

A show source said Jones made her surprise announcement so her fans would turn against the show

Translation: Star said Miss Jones made her carefully orchestrated announcement in a desperate effort to cover up the fact she'd been fired so her #1 Fan (S. Jones) could bitch endlessly about her unfair treatment to anyone who will listen, ie, nobody.

Anyway, if she wanted to renegotiate her contract she could have done so - she's a lawyer you know.