The View

"The View" got their claws all over Roboho-gate this morning, with Sherri Shepherd calling Rev. Al Sharpton "silly" for slamming TMZ -- and even Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that the Rev. tussled with the wrong website!

Shepherd took the strongest line against Sharpton, saying he was "silly" for criticizing our use of "Roboho," and reiterating -- yet again -- that it was her outfit, not the singer herself, on which TMZ was commenting.

Alexandra Wentworth, comedian/actress wife of perky ABC newsman George Stephanopoulos, was guest co-host this morning, when the yentas tackled the subject of Katie Couric's move to CBS Evening News. As Babwa and the gang talked about how younger people don't watch news on television, Wentworth said she gets all the info she needs from "Jon Stewart, then I go to SNL and then I go to TMZ," leaving hubby Georgie off the list!

First "Entourage," then TIME names us one of the 25 sites they can't live without, and now "The View," -- this TMZ thing sho iz gettin' popular!

Walters recounted their little chat on "The View" this morning. Among the highlights: Paris says her "act" until now -- namely, playing a blonde heirhead -- is over, and that she's a totally different person after just a few days of jail. Indeed, proclaims Paris, "God has released" her spirit from its previous, uh, incarnation.

Apparently, Paris is also playing ping-pong, and maybe most shockingly of all, she tells Babwa that she hasn't looked in a mirror in days, and that her face is "very dry" for lack of moisturizer. She's served nine days, has fourteen left, and at this point, isn't sobbing, screaming or wailing in her cell, according to Walters.

said that split screen
that pushed me over the edge
was used before --
really, when?

called slugfest between me and e
"a little contretemps"
fancy euphemism for
i kicked some hasselbutt

speaking of e-beth
she said we were on road to reconciliation
that we exchanged messages
but no apology, still, on air.

whoopi chilled, said she was groovin'
but all 'view' and no ro
make morning tv
very dull watching

This morning, Ro posted a video montage on her blog titled "True Colors 2007," which includes a soundtrack by Cyndi Lauper and images of Babwa and Ro's right wing nemesis, Elisabeth. It also includes an image of Ro's eyes in the rearview mirror of a car. Symbolism?

Even though Rosie had already announced that she won't be back on the squabblefest next season, the mysterious message comes in the wake of Wednesday's RO vs. EH explosion, and has many convinced that O'Donnell's days on the show are already behind her.

Yo, ABC! Give us "The View" back!

The day after thermonuclear war broke out between Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, "The View" was a placid (boring), supportive (boring), and happy (booooring) place once more, with Queen Babs back on her throne to restore order. Rosie was off celebrating partner Kelli's birthday, but the show didn't skirt around yesterday's slugfest, and guest co-host Kathy Griffin compared the dust-up to Christmas dinners in the Griffin family household.

Still, as of this morning, all Rosie was sayin' was that she didn't know when she'd be back -- if at all, according to her blog. And, more officially, Babwa called any suggestion that yesterday's fight was scripted "ridiculous."

"EXTRA" talked to the Donald last night, where he, of course, couldn't keep quiet about mortal enemy Rosie O'Donnell and her near-nuclear meltdown with Elisabeth Hasselbeck yesterday on "The View."

Trump says Elisabeth "is one of the dumber people on television" and "an imbecile" for supporting the war in Iraq -- and even crowned Rosie the winner of that feud. Not able to leave it at that, Trump had to make it known that he still thinks O'Donnell is "a very self destructive person."

Did Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck's ballistic warfare this morning push Ro over the edge -- and into an early exit from "The View?"

O'Donnell has three weeks left before she's done, but from the sound of her blog at rosie.com, even that might be too long for her to handle. "It may be time to be done," was what she wrote this afternoon, after the brutal verbal bashing she and Elisabeth smacked-down on one another, while also suggesting that it should be Elisabeth, not she, who should apologize for the dust-up.

Rosie clearly wasn't happy with producers of the show, who saw fit to split-screen the shouting match in flagrante, which made for riveting television, but unquestionably ratcheted up the rancor. "It was sickening," wrote Ro.

As usual, Rosie and Elisabeth started in on one another on the topic of Iraq, but it quickly got personal when Rosie, clearly still miffed that Elisabeth hadn't defended her over the whole soldiers-as-terrorists fracas, demanded to know whether Hasselbeck really thought Rosie felt that U.S. soldiers were terrorists, "as my friend, since September." When Elisabeth didn't give her a yes-or-no answer, the verbal fisticuffs began in earnest. In fact, producers saw fit to go split-screen, just to amp up the volume.

Name-calling ensued, with Rosie calling Elisabeth "cowardly," and Elisabeth spitting back at Ro that she's not "poor little Elisabeth," even smacking down guest co-host Sherri Shepherd's suggestion that she chill for the sake of her unborn child, saying, "The baby's FINE."

Rosie O'Donnell sure is itching to be done with "The View," and she's definitely not hiding her displeasure with her co-hosts after what she called an "explosive" day yesterday on the air.

Likening herself on her blog at rosie.com to a "senior in highschool [sic],", the talk queen made it clear that the end of June -- and her tenure on the show -- can't come fast enough. "It's sunny and i wanna stay home/be done/move on," she writes. "The end is always rocky/one must focus."

Ro also addressed yesterday's show, in which she came under fire for supposedly equating American soldiers with terrorists on a previous show (which she explained was a misinterpretation of her words). Several fans wrote in to point out that her co-hosts Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and Barbara Walters seemed to "gang up" on her, with Babwa giving an especially pointed lesson in the definitions of "terrorist" and "jihadist."

So much for laying off Elisabeth.

Rosie O'Donnell went ballistic on her preggers "View" co-host Hasselbeck, pounding her for watching "crappy cable shows" -- namely the ones on FOX News -- and assailing her failure to weigh two viewpoints at the same time. Which Rosie does, of course, on a regular basis! Rosie had pledged to take it easy on E, given her gravid condition, but that didn't stop her this morning.

As ever, Babwa Walters tried to be Switzerland in the fray, but it didn't end up doing much.

Paris Hilton's mother Kathy took to the airwaves -- speaking through the oracle that is Barbara Walters on this morning's "The View" -- urging "young people who look up" to Paris to "learn" from her DUI arrest and impending imprisonment.

Babwa, friends with Kathy and husband "Ricky" for years, said she spoke to Mama Hilton yesterday, and read a brief statement from the convicted socialite's mom. "We can only hope that something positive will come out of this," said Walters for Kathy. "Hopefully the young people who look up to people like Paris can learn from this." Not to mention her videos.

TMZ spotted the train wreck taffeta-wrapped tastemaker outside Sugar last night, where he expressed his desire to join the daily gab-fest, telling our cameras, "I have many views and I love confrontation ... just give me a week on 'The View,' get the Trendy view." Wouldn't you just love to see Trendy sassing out Babwa or giving Joy a horrendous, pink-lace, tulle and rhinestone makeover? Maybe not.

Trendy then showed off his purported skills by commenting on current events, giving his glossy-lipped insight into Paris Hilton's upcoming jail stint.

So proclaimed Rosie herself in her blog late last night. After yesterday's show, in which she and Hasselbeck traded heated words on their favorite verbal battleground -- the war in Iraq -- Rosie decided to back down, especially with Elisabeth three months pregnant. Or, as she put it, in her free-verse style:

on the view
u have seen my last hasselbeck spat
2 day was it
no more - its done

there is a new life
there - inside
and in the end -
what else matters

Today, unavoidably, the discussion turned to President Bush and Iraq, and Rosie's restraint was evident -- she just changed the topic. We'll see how long the pseudo-haiku-inspiring truce holds.

Actor, producer, director Danny DeVito can now add a new title to his resume -- Limoncello Head!

DeVito caused quite a buzz when he made a "groggy" appearance on "The View" after drinking "seven limoncellos" during a night out with George Clooney in November. Although the funnyman went on to say that his bubbly veneer on the chatter was a joke, he is now looking to turn a profit from his love of the lemon-flavored liqueur -- and unveiled Danny DeVito's Premium Limoncello. Cheers!

It was all smiles and confetti between E and her elders on "The View" this morning, when Hasselbeck proclaimed the happy news about her second baby, though Barbara Walters admitted that she nearly plotzed when Elisabeth told her she had something to say, following on the heels of Rosie's exit announcement last week.