While promoting "Audition: A Memoir" in 2008, Barbara Walters had some pretty critical words for Star Jones, her former co-host on "The View." In 2003, rumors spread that Jones had undergone gastric bypass surgery, which she vehemently denied at first, but finally later confirmed.
Of course, that's Jones' prerogative, but apparently, Walters wasn't thrilled with how it all played out. Per ABC News, she told Oprah Winfrey in 2008, "[Jones] decided to have a gastric bypass operation, but then she decided not to tell anybody. Then we had to lie on the set every day because she said it was portion control and Pilates. Well, we knew it wasn't portion control and Pilates." Understandably, Walters' comments did not sit well with Jones. She said in a statement to Us Weekly (via ABC News), "It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is ... speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book."
While they had their differences, there was still a great deal of respect between Walters and Jones. When news of Walters' death broke in December 2022, Jones tweeted, "I owe Barbara Walters more than I could ever repay. Rest well sister...mother...friend...colleague...mentor."
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