O'Donnell Says She Won't Speak To Former Co-Host Hasselbeck

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rosie O'Donnell says she will likely never speak to ``The View'' co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck again after an on-air tiff last week that led to O'Donnell's early departure

Monday, May 28th 2007, 7:59 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rosie O'Donnell says she will likely never speak to ``The View'' co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck again after an on-air tiff last week that led to O'Donnell's early departure from the show.

The former host of the ABC daytime chatfest says in a video blog posted on her Web site that she has never tried harder to be friends with someone, but she doesn't think she succeeded with Hasselbeck.

``I haven't spoken to her, and I probably won't, and I think it's just as well,'' she said. ``I wrote her an e-mail, and she wrote me back, and there you have it.''

The fight ended a colorful eight-month tenure for O'Donnell that lifted the show's ratings but no doubt caused heartburn for show creator Barbara Walters. O'Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently had snippy exchanges with the more conservative Hasselbeck.

On Friday, ABC said O'Donnell asked for, and received, an early exit from her contract. O'Donnell said last month she would be leaving because she could not agree to a new contract with ABC executives. In the video blog, she said she never really fit in.

``I was really just like a foster kid for a year,'' she said. ``I came, you know, we considered adoption, but I didn't really fit into the family and now it's time for the foster kid to go back home.''

O'Donnell fessed up that chief writer Janette Barber drew a mustache on a photo of Hasselbeck at the show's studio before they left. ``It was a joke on the way out,'' she said.

Calls to ABC and Walters were not immediately returned Monday.

The argument with Hasselbeck began Wednesday over O'Donnell's statement last week about the war: ``655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?''

Talk show critics accused O'Donnell of calling U.S. troops terrorists. She called Hasselbeck ``cowardly'' for not saying anything in response to the critics, which set off their lengthy argument.