It appears that Rosie Perez will be ending her tenure on the television chat-fest The View less than a year after her heralded arrival on the panel. The move seems to be only the latest development in a period in which the show has been full of instability after the retirement of founder, Barbara Walters, the sudden departure of longtime panelist, Sherri Shepherd, the controversially short-lived residency of Jenny McCarthy and yet abrupt another Rosie O’Donnell exit.
The impending exit of the actress turned-talk-host has been confirmed this week. Deadline reports her Perez's final day on the show will occur on August 6. The ABC show, which for nearly eighteen years has thrived on showcasing dynamic, controversial debates over topical issues didn’t exactly get any headline-making harangues out of a mostly reserved Perez. This lead to speculation that her position was already on the chopping block as early as last January. However, the official statement of her departure tells a different story. According to The View executive producer, Bill Wolff:
Our friend Rosie Perez has decided to leave the show to pursue full time her love for acting,
Perez made her debut on the talk show last September alongside fellow new panelist, Nicolle Wallace. The supporting duo were to be part of a newly-rebooted version of the show which would have the two newbies serving as sensible buffers on the roundtable in-between notorious firebrands, Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell. After ratings problems and an array of behind-the-scenes tumult, this four-person panel was to be the intended to revive the ailing show. However, it didn’t take long for a bit of déjà vu to hit the headlines with anecdotal reports of some serious butting of heads between the occupants of the end-table chairs in Goldberg and O’Donnell and by February, citing a domestic personal issues, O’Donnell was out, yet again.
Yet, when it came to Perez’s position, the impression of its tenuous nature seemed to show itself rather quickly when, just three months in, she took a hiatus from the show in December to rehearse a Broadway play in which she had been cast co-starring Larry David called, Fish in the Dark. That show went on to be a success and Perez seemed to logistically manage the dual role of Broadway star and talk show panelist for a little while. However, it was during that period that her eventual replacement on the panel, former child actress, Raven-Symoné had come into the picture, serving as a consistent guest host. With the announcement last month that the 29-year-old former Cosby Show kid and That’s So Raven star would become a permanent fixture on The View, it seems a key role in the show’s dynamics may have been filled and the writing may have been on the wall regarding Perez’s status.
For now, The View will continue on with its now-signature brand of musical chairs-like disarray. With the impending exit of Perez, speculation has now shifted to the status of her fellow September 2014 hire in Nicolle Wallace, a former political adviser who has served as a voice for the conservative side of the daily discussions, while also brandishing a credibility as a news contributor on NBC. For Perez, however, it seems that The View will no longer monopolize the signature brand of Latina zest she has displayed on film and stage.
