Despite all the drama surrounding “The View,” Rosie O’Donnell and Barbara Walters lunched in Midtown yesterday, smiling and whispering as O’Donnell’s time at the morning show comes to a close.
There were no hard feelings between the two as they sat at the same table at Michael’s. In fact Walters, who still co-executive produces “The View,” told us she doesn’t believe rumors that cast members dislike each other and says the show is “just fine.”
“Rosie wasn’t polarizing on the show or off air,” Walters told Confidenti@l. “As for the stories (of the cast fighting), they are untrue. They have not been fighting, that’s not the case at all.”
Walters still keeps a close eye on the show, telling us she’s on top of the production every day.
“I send notes, I send emails and I go there, not every day, but I’m there,” she said. “The show does very well.”
As of now, she says the show will work without O’Donnell, saying, “We have enough co-hosts. We have four.”
“We’d like to use some of the new people we tried,” she added. “It’s a good idea to go younger (and) use new people.”
The ladies chatted at a Ron Perelman-hosted luncheon for O’Donnell’s new health crisis routine, “A Heartfelt Stand Up,” which airs on HBO on Feb. 14.
Also at the lunch were Ariana Huffington, Elle Editor-in Chief Robbie Myers, and HBO documentary film president Sheila Nevins, who gave O’Donnell a Valentine’s present — a gray knitted cashmere hat filled with Hershey’s kisses.
Turns out, it was an insight joke that connects to O’Donnell’s recent split from her second wife, Michelle Rounds.
“I saw Rosie at an event and she was flirting with a woman who was wearing a gray hat like this, so I thought she’d laugh,” Nevins told us.
O’Donnell was overheard making dinner plans with Walters for after her vacation, proving that all’s well with the two.
