Rosie O'Donnell Admits She Had a Crush on Elisabeth Hasselbeck While on The View (UPDATED)

UPDATE (March 26, 2019, 11:50 a.m.): Elisabeth Hasselbeck has responded to Rosie O'Donnell's admission that she had a crush on her during their days on The View and her belief that "there were underlying lesbian undertones on both parts.” Us Weekly reports that on Tuesday, Hasselbeck said on Fox & Friends, “I’d like to be able to say that I didn’t, but I read that. I’ll be very honest: I read it and I immediately started praying. … And I pray now the Holy Spirit gives me the words to articulate this, but I think it can be addressed with both truth and grace.”

She went on to say, "If you took her words and you replaced ‘Rosie’ for ‘Ronald,’ there would be an objectification of women in the workplace, so that is disturbing and it’s wrong. And whether you’re a man or whether you’re a woman and you’re objectifying women in the workplace, it’s wrong.”

Hasselbeck also responded to O'Donnell's assertion that "there are not many, in my life, girls with such athletic talent on sports teams that are traditionally male that aren’t at least a little bit gay," with the following statement: “I think her casting a stereotype on female athletes and what she said — that all female athletes are ‘a little bit gay’ — I would say this directly to her, and I would say, ‘That’s an unfair stereotype, and it seems selfish in a way and I think that it’s untrue.’”

She concluded: “Rosie, I think it was disturbing to read those things and it was offensive to me, but I forgive her. I totally forgive you, Rosie. … I really hope that we can be at peace and that we can both hold our beliefs in one hand and hold each other’s hand in the other and still have a relationship that’s at peace. … Even more than I want to be at peace with her, I hope she finds that peace because God wants that for her too.”

The original story continues below.

The View revelations just keep on coming. In another excerpt from Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of "The View," Rosie O'Donnell offers some surprising thoughts on her infamous on-air feud with Elisabeth Hasselbeck. (Click here to review some tea Jenny McCarthy spills in the book.) 

First, let's back up to 2007, when the liberal O'Donnell and the conservative Hasselbeck had a televised, 10-minute dispute over the Iraq war (you can watch it here.) After the fight, O'Donnell left The View. Now, she's telling her side of the story, and expounding upon her feelings for the woman who appeared to be her opponent.  

"I loved her,” O’Donnell admits in the book. “Here’s what I said, ‘I’m the senior. She’s the freshman. I’ve got a really good player on the freshman team, but I have to teach her how to loosen up.'”

And, there's more: "I think there were underlying lesbian undertones on both parts,” O’Donnell added. “I think this is something that will hurt her if you write it. She was the MVP of a Division 1 softball team for two years that won the finals. There are not many, in my life, girls with such athletic talent on sports teams that are traditionally male that aren’t at least a little bit gay." 

She continued: "There was a little bit of a crush. But not that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to support, raise, elevate her, like she was the freshman star shortstop and I was the captain of the team ... I was going to Scottie Pippen her. If I was Jordan, I was going to give her and the ball and let her shoot. But it was in no way sexualized."

Of her departure from the show, O'Donnell said: "It felt like a lover breaking up... the fight that we had, to me as a gay woman, it felt like this: ‘You don’t love me as much as I love you.’ ‘I’ve taken care of you.’ ‘You have not.’ ‘How could you do that to me?’ ‘I didn’t do anything to you."

Of course, Hasselbeck isn't the only one O'Donnell has feuded with publicly. Keep scrolling to hear her dish on her spat with Donald Trump during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. 

Rosie on Trump’s Hostility Toward Her