Rosie O'Donnell has spoken out amid rumors that her "The View" co-host Rosie Perez may be exiting the talk show and denied any truth behind the false reports.
The actress will apparently return to her position on the panel after she finishes her stint in Larry David's Broadway play "Fish in the Dark," O'Donnell confirmed on Thursday's show.
"No matter what you read anywhere, Rosie Perez is also coming back after she is done rehearsing her play," the outspoken comedienne said of Perez, who joined as co-host of the ABC show in August last year.
O'Donnell also told fans to ignore the rumors of Perez's exit, expressing her own shock when she saw the news yesterday.
"Regardless of what you hear in other shows or read in magazines, as I did last night at 11:40 and went, 'What the f---?!'" O'Donnell continued, cursing as the camera cut away and bleeped her out.
Speculations that Perez might be giving up her spot on "The View" first surfaced on Wednesday when she took one month off from the show starting January to focus on her Broadway production rehearsal.
This was further fueled when Variety reported that the "Do The Right Thing" star was leaving the show after only four months as a co-host.
While it's true that she took the month of January off for Broadway rehearsals, there is no truth behind the rumor that Perez won't be coming back to "The View" at the end of the month, according to a show spokesperson.
"Rosie Perez is currently in rehearsal for her Broadway play," the "View" rep said, via New York Daily News. "Her status with the show has not changed."
However, there are still sources saying that Perez has been struggling as a host on the morning talk show partly due to her lack of experience in filming for live television and partly because of the rising tension between her two co-hosts.
One source claimed that Perez has been a "wreck" following O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg's nasty backstage brawl in November, while another insider reportedly said that the actress has been struggling with internal criticism.
"She's constantly correcting herself because she's constantly screwing something up," a source told the Daily News of Perez following the November brawl which reportedly left her in tears.
"She's not the sharpest tool in the shed," the insider added.
Despite the claims, Perez has described her gig as a "View" panelist to be a positive experience during an interview with the Daily News in December.
"I'm enjoying myself," she said when asked how things were going so far.
But she did confess that she was initially hesitant to take on the job and join the show because of the drama seen in previous seasons.
"I don't want to sound disrespectful to the previous cast at all," she told Viva. "It's just that when you get to a certain age you want to go to work and enjoy yourself."