By Meredith Blake
Los Angeles Times.
NEW YORK
All 11 current and former co-hosts will be reunited on “The View” on May 15, the day before Barbara Walters retires after more than five decades in broadcast journalism, ABC announced Wednesday.
Stopping by to bid farewell will be former co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos, Meredith Vieira and Lisa Ling. Also present will be the current lineup of Jenny McCarthy, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd.
“Barbara Walters’ status as a trailblazer, a legend and an icon are undeniable,” said Paul Lee, ABC Entertainment president, in a statement.
The unprecedented reunion is no small feat, given the show’s sometimes contentious history. O’Donnell and Hasselbeck were known for clashing bitterly over politics, while Jones left “The View” acrimoniously in 2006.
Matenopoulos, one of the original co-hosts on “The View” when it premiered in 1997, bears the distinction of being the first co-host to get fired. And Behar was edged out in 2013 after 16 years as a co-host, amid speculation that producers were trying to tone down the often-heated partisan debates the show had come to be known for.
