Rosie O'Donnell has revealed that she still feels a sting when recalling her infamous 2007 on-air argument with former "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, admitting the feud remains a "problematic" point for her.
In a recent interview with People, O'Donnell, 64, was asked to name her least and most favorite co-hosts during her time on the talk show, where she had two separate stints from September 2006 to May 2007 and again from September 2014 to February 2015.
"Listen, it's known that me and Elisabeth Hasselbeck did not have a great ending to our friendship, so I would say that was the most problematic, perhaps," O'Donnell stated. "But we did get along right up until the end, and then it blew up on national TV."
O'Donnell shared that while she avoids rewatching her idol Barbra Streisand's 1997 appearance, she sometimes revisits the contentious exchange with Hasselbeck. "If the Elisabeth Hasselbeck fight is on, I'm like, 'Let me try to remember what this felt like,'" she said.
The clash, which occurred on the May 23, 2007, episode, escalated from a discussion about the Iraq War into a 10-minute shouting match. The argument reportedly began after O'Donnell questioned the U.S. invasion of Iraq, stating on a prior May 17 episode, "655,000 Iraqi civilians dead. Who are the terrorists?" O'Donnell felt that Hasselbeck failed to publicly defend her during the ensuing controversy.
On the May 23 broadcast, O'Donnell confronted Hasselbeck, calling her "cowardly" for not supporting her. When O'Donnell asked Hasselbeck if she believed she thought U.S. troops were terrorists, Hasselbeck responded that while she didn't believe that, O'Donnell should "Defend your own insinuations."
Despite attempts by fellow co-hosts Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd to de-escalate the situation, the argument intensified. Two days after the fiery exchange, O'Donnell abruptly quit "The View."
Hasselbeck, in a March appearance on "The View's Behind the Table" podcast, reflected on the incident, calling it "not her favorite day" and a "significant day." She stated that while she would have tried to remain "a little bit more physically calm," she stood by her position. "I'm proud to have spoken on behalf of the military, and I'm proud that this is a program that allowed even that passion to be shared," Hasselbeck said, acknowledging the argument was "ugly."
She also noted that the confrontation took a personal toll and impacted her friendship with O'Donnell, describing it as an "awful human rift." However, Hasselbeck indicated that the incident played a role in her career path, suggesting it helped her secure a job at Fox News, with Roger Ailes reportedly telling her, "I saw that, you're hired."