Rosie O’Donnell reveals why things turned ‘tense’ with Whoopi Goldberg on The View

Carsen HoladayMon, August 3, 2026 at 2:12 PM UTC

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Rosie O'Donnell has opened up about tension on the set of 'The View' with Whoopi Goldberg (Getty)

Rosie O’Donnell is lifting the curtain on her relationship with Whoopi Goldberg.

O’Donnell, 64, co-hosted The View for single season stints in 2006 and 2014, coinciding with Goldberg’s run on the show after she joined as the talk show’s Hot Topics moderator in 2007.

Now, ahead of O’Donnell returning to The View as a guest for its 30th season, she admitting to having a “tense time with Whoopi” when she last appeared on the show.

Speaking on Monday’s episode of Kyle Ridley’s podcast The Tangle, O’Donnell said about the iconic performer: “I admire her EGOT status. I have respect for her.”

However, she said that the two women had a professional rift during their time on the panel in 2014.

O’Donnell said she expected their dynamic to be like “Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan passing the ball back and forth and then shooting,” especially since the duo got along and had lunch at Goldberg’s home before appearing on the show together.

“But that’s not exactly what happened,” O’Donnell said. “And I think maybe she felt encroached upon in some way, and I was never trying to encroach. I was just doing it the way that I knew how to do it. And it didn’t go so well, you know. So I didn’t want it to be awkward and go on there and make it awkward.”

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She continued: “I thought I was going in safe and sound and it didn’t turn out that way from day one.”

O’Donnell said that Goldberg became upset with her because she “made the mistake of throwing to a commercial when she was still talking.”

Since the friction, however, O’Donnell said that she has encountered Goldberg in recent years and that the pair have “gotten past it” because they’re “grown-ass women.”

Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg, pictured here in 2010, got along before they experienced tension on 'The View' in 2014 (Getty)

“She’s a woman who supports women, as am I,” O’Donnell said.

The issue also seems to be water under the bridge for Goldberg, who said on The View in June that she had reunited with O’Donnell to see the Broadway show Cats: The Jellicle Ball, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Goldberg said at the time: “She came back. She has a one-woman show she’s doing, too. She’s got all kinds of great stuff going on, but she looked amazing.”

The Independent has reached out to Goldberg and The View for further comment.

Ahead of O’Donnell’s return to the beloved daytime talk show as a guest, the comedian will also soon step in to guest host Jimmy Kimmel Live for a week starting August 17.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”