Rosie O'Donnell's departure from The View is all about time and money. Despite Donald Trump's claim that he helped push the outspoken O'Donnell off the talk show, ABC execs had hopes that she'd stay put. Unfortunately, a source tells me, the network failed to put its money where its mouth was. "She definitely was not pushed out," my source just told me. "She asked for a specific amount of money and they responded with a three-year contract at a reduced price. Frankly, someone at [ABC] should be fired for the negotiations."O'Donnell shot a home video this morning in her View dressing room. She posted the video on her blog just as today's show went on the air with the big news. "We couldn't come to terms," O'Donnell says in the video of the contract talks.Joy Behar also chimed in. "It won't be easy," she said of a Rosie-less View, "but I will survive."Posted by Marc Malkin on Wed, Apr 25, 2007, 1:40 PM Breaking! What's Next for Rosie? Now that Rosie O'Donnell is saying goodbye to The View, she could be saying hello to the Great White Way.I'm told O'Donnell is still hard at work developing a Broadway play for herself, in which she would star opposite Danny Aiello. It was first announced that O’Donnell and Aiello would open Alexander Dinelaris’ intense drama Folding the Monster in fall 2005.Sources tell me part of O’Donnell’s renegotiations with ABC included her request to have enough time away from the talk show to work on the play.
Even so, there are some in O’Donnell’s camp who worry about her diving into such a heavy piece, especially considering Broadway’s eight-times-a-week performance schedule. Rosie has made no secret about her very real battle with depression. "Who knows what could happen with Rosie in the play," a source recently told me. "Her character’s story includes a lot of dark family secrets. Could Rosie handle going there every night?"
This wouldn’t be O’Donnell’s first foray onto the boards. She starred in musicals like Seussical, Grease and Fiddler on the Roof. She also coproduced the much publicized Taboo, a quirky musical starring former Culture Club frontman Boy George.
But not all is dark and gloomy for Ms. O’Donnell. The Big Gay Sketch Show comedy series she helped develop and produces premiered last night on the Logo network.
Marc Malkin E Entertainment