Meghan McCain, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and The View hosts mourn ‘icon’ Barbara Walters
Heather Hunter
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The tributes for legendary journalist Barbara Walters poured in after news of her death on Friday at age 93.
“Her creation of The View is something I will always be appreciative of,” wrote Meghan McCain, a former co-host of The View from 2017 to 2021.
https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1609018990742962176
Walters had a 17-year-long tenure on the ABC daytime talk show and retired as a co-host of the program in May 2014.
“Barbara Walters will always be known as a trail blazer. Her hard hitting questions and welcoming demeanor made her a household name and leader in American journalism,” McCain wrote.
“You will forever be an icon, ” she said.
Former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck told Fox & Friends on Saturday that Walters was her “TV mom” and felt it was “a privilege” to host with her for 10 years.
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“She was a trailblazer in the world of women in news and broadcasting overall,” she said. “I don’t know if there are enough minutes to cover what she has meant to me personally.”
Hasselbeck said it was Walters who went to bat for her when she didn’t have maternity leave in her contract on the show. “She made sure that I had that covered.”
The former Fox News host credited Walters as the one who helped her get a job at Fox & Friends by pitching executive Roger Ailes to hire Hasselbeck after the end of her time at the ABC show.
Walters had “compassion” for “people that other people who shy away from” and sit with people “shunned by society,” said Hasselbeck. She said that Walters was a woman of faith.
Former co-host Rosie O’Donnell, whose tenure as host lasted for eight months from 2006 to 2007 and for another year in 2014, shared an Instagram post of her and Walters with the caption of “legend #ripbarbara.”
“What a long and eventful, legendary life she had,” O’Donnell said posted later in a video message. “I was lucky enough to be in her orbit for a good many years … may everyone remember what barriers she broke down for women.”
BARBARA WALTERS DEAD: ICONIC TELEVISION JOURNALIST DIES AT 93.
Sherri Shepherd, a co-host on The View from 2007 to 2014, shared her own online tribute.
“Barbara was tough on me, but she was tough on those she loved. Barbara gave me a chance to grow. She encouraged me (no … she TOLD me) to speak up or be left behind,” wrote Shepherd on Instagram. “She told me to never take No for an answer.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin took to Instagram and said she was in Ghana when she learned of loss of her “mentor.”
“I am heartbroken to hear of Barbara’s passing. While I’m deeply saddened by this loss and will miss her terribly, I’m forever grateful for the trails she blazed for me and so many others. I’m humbled and honored to carry on her legacy. Rest in Power,” Hostin said.
RadarOnline reported that Walters had been suffering from advanced stages of dementia before her death. “Barbara is fading a little more every day. She’s close to the end and her team is scrambling to manage affairs just the way Barbara would want them,” one source told Radar.