If you thought the ladies of ABC’s “The View” were catty and dramatic on air, the details of their behind-the-scenes interactions will shock you, a new book alleges.
Ramin Setoodeh, the author of “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View,'” explores the inside culture of the long-running daytime television program. Yashar Ali, who exclusively obtained a copy of the book, retells some of the more sordid tales in an article for HuffPost.
“The book details more than 100 examples of a hostile work environment, yet it seems nothing was ever done to mitigate this behavior. Clashes backstage between staff and co-hosts, and between co-hosts and co-hosts, are detailed at great length,” Ali reports.
After one particularly nasty incident, former ‘View’ co-host and current MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace reported her co-host Rosie O’Donnell to Human Resources. Wallace and O’Donnell reportedly got into a backstage spat over Wallace’s defense of President George W. Bush.
The argument got so heated that Wallace brought her husband to work one day, fearing that O’Donnell might try to harm her.
“I just felt you were threatening me,” Wallace allegedly told O’Donnell.
In an interview for the book, O’Donnell expressed anger that she was reported to HR, stating, “Are you kidding me? I raised my voice. I was in my dressing room, getting my makeup done, and somebody comes and goes, ‘Nicolle Wallace just went to HR…'”
“I didn’t know what HR was, first of all,” O’Donnell added.
O’Donnell was also reportedly the source of issues with Mark Gentile, the show’s director, because she repeatedly targeted him over an affair he had with one of the show’s producers. Their relationship became so tense that Gentile had to leave the room when O’Donnell would enter.
Gentile compared O’Donnell to a murderous dictator in an interview for the book. (RELATED: Jenny McCarthy Compares Barbara Walters To ‘Mommie Dearest’ In New Tell-All Book About ‘The View’)
“Not like Bill O’Reilly, he’s crazy. She’s medically insane, the best talent she has is making you believe she’s normal. She was like Pol Pot in Cambodia. She was going to go through the country and she was going to kill everybody and have it her way,” Gentile asserted.
“Ladies Who Punch” identifies legacy journalist Barbara Walters as one of the sources of the show’s bitter and competitive culture. Walters is described as being controlling and jealous of more popular cohosts, despite her own storied career, and leaking negative information about them to the press.