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Barbara Walters, Star Jones discuss ‘ugly’ departure from ‘The View’

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Barbara Walters isn’t one to hold a grudge, apparently, as the grand dame of ‘The View’ welcomed former co-host Star Jones back to the show Wednesday, nearly six years after Jones’ spectacular flameout and departure.

Jones appeared ostensibly to promote a campaign raising awareness of heart disease in women, but the topic everyone wanted to discuss was what happened back in 2006 when Jones abruptly left the show.

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Walters introduced Jones by saying, ‘I say this genuinely. I am so happy to welcome back Star Jones.’ She then embraced Jones as she arrived on the stage.

Jones appeared to take stock of the changes since her last appearance. ‘A new couch,’ she noted. ‘Mm-hmm. You’ve got two black girls. Sherri and I are not the same person.’

But Walters wasted little time in getting down to the good stuff, asking Jones about details of her departure. When she was informed her contract would not be renewed in the summer of 2006, she blindsided her co-hosts by announcing the development on the air. She was gone the next day.

‘Are we really going to go here, Barbara? Do we care at this point, my sister? I honestly don’t,’ Jones asked. But of course Walters did.

‘It was ugly,’ Jones responded. When asked to elaborate, she said, ‘It was a bad emotional time. Nasty things were being said in the media.... I made the decision that I wanted to go out on my own terms. I wanted to control it so that when I walked back in here, if I were ever invited, I would feel good about coming in.’

However, not everything during Jones’ appearance was sweetness and light. Joy Behar took the opportunity to bring up Jones’ novel, ‘Satan’s Sisters,’ which Behar described as ‘about a bunch of talk show hosts who sound like bitches.’ Behar suggested, ‘It must have been about ‘The Talk!’ ‘

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-- Patrick Kevin Day

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