NEW YORK, New York (September 18, 2007) – As was announced on Monday, Barry Manilow did not make his appearance on “The View” Tuesday due to differences with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
And while the he said/they said of who exactly cancelled Manilow’s appearance continues, Barbara Walters discussed the issue with Bill Geddie during the launch of Walters’ weekly SIRIUS satellite radio show “Barbara Live” on Monday night.
While Manilow claims he backed out of his scheduled gig when the show wouldn’t accommodate his request to remove Hasselbeck, sources close to “The View” claimed the “Copacabana” singer was “lying,” and that it was the show who told Manilow not to show up.
On Walters’ radio show, Geddie, who co-executive produces “The View” with Walters, maintains it was the show’s decision for Manilow not to appear.
“He said, ‘I’ll do Barbara and Whoopi or I’ll do Whoopi and Sherri or some combination, but I won’t sit with Elisabeth,’ and I said ‘Well, then you won’t be on the show. It’s that simple,’” Geddie explained. “And that was the end of it. He’s not going to call the shots. You’re not going to tell me how to produce the show.”
And while Walters said she understands Manilow’s friendship with Rosie, at the same time, her show is all about promoting different lines of thought.
“If you disagree with somebody’s political point of view you don’t come on? We’re called ‘The View’ because we have different points of view,” Walters said. “Also, Elisabeth Hasselbeck is not an enemy of Rosie’s. None of us are. If Elisabeth disagrees with Rosie, and Rosie disagrees with Elisabeth…nobody is to my knowledge is taking sides.”
On Monday, Manilow posted the following message on his Web site:
“I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback [sic]. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those.”
However, sources close to “The View” insisted he is “lying” and was making a bigger issue out of it only to promote his new album.
Manilow has been making the rounds promoting his upcoming “Greatest Songs of the Seventies,” which is in stores today.
As Walters and Geddie wrapped their chat about the singer, Geddie said ultimately when you come on “The View,” it’s an all or nothing scenario.
“He’s always seemed like a nice guy, but I don’t get him on this. We’re ‘The View,’ we have people with different opinions,” Geddie concluded. “You sit with one of us, you sit with all of us.”
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