As Rosie O’Donnell addresses in her recent video to her fans, there’s been a lot of speculation out there about why exactly she has decided to leave ABC’s The View, and like the show itself, most of it has been filled to the brim with drama. So naturally, O’Donnell wanted to put all the rumors to rest. Watch as she shares the real, heartfelt reason she is leaving the daytime talk show.
The official announcement came over the weekend, that Rosie O’Donnell was indeed quiting the fan-favorite talk show with the intention of concentrating on her family life. The View had some problems over the past months, and O’Donnell was a major voice within them. But, as the rumors have spread that O’Donnell just couldn’t deal with having a less dominant role on the show (as Whoopi Goldberg holds the seat of moderator, one that Rosie O’Donnell once had), O’Donnell had a sincere and emotional reason that she probably had hoped wouldn’t need to be brought up.
O’Donnell suffered from a heart-attack a couple years ago, and since then she has been an avid promoter of heart-health and awareness. And in her video she admits that the real reason for her departure is to care for her own health. As a heart-attack survivor there are three important elements of sticking to a healthy lifestyle: “minimize your stress, maximize your exercise, and control your diet”. And according to O’Donnell, her time on The View was not exactly “minimizing stress”. On top of that, she just recently went through a divorce, and wants to focus on her children. O’Donnell insisted that there was too much going on at home, and the one thing she could control was leaving work, taking that stressful element out of her life, at least.
The video response was touching, and necessary, but it still seems a bit off that instead of bringing about these issues on the actual show, the departure is being kept fairly hush-hush, as O’Donnell will pretty much just disappear from the show this week without any addressing from the co-hosts. But, as the actress/comedian put in her video message, she didn’t want to bring up her departure on the show, despite everyone insisting on it. She said:
That's it. I don't want to talk about it on The View. So it was no one's fault but mine that I didn't discuss it today. Probably not going to discuss it [Tuesday].
The ‘on-record’ story that ABC announced, and now O’Donnell is verifying about her need to be home and focus on her family is believable, but of course, as the internet always loves to do, the drama surrounding the sudden departure will cause speculation. Whether or not there is any sound evidence that O’Donnell is leaving because of her role in the show, and the pay associated with that role, we may never know. All we know now is to let O’Donnell move on, and not to burden her with any added stress. Staying healthy is the top priority.
