ABC Decided Not to Fire Rosie Perez To Avoid Publicity Nightmare

According to Variety, ABC was ready and set to remove Rosie Perez from its long running but now flailing talk show – The View.

Pretty much after the grand dame of television, Barbara Walters vacated her spot last year, the foundation has remained consistently cracked. It also didn’t help that Bill Geddes, who served as producer since inception was also replaced.

But even more telling was the resignation of Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy which seemed rather abrupt and forced – especially since McCarthy was barely there long enough to establish her contributions. It was clear that something big was in the works – that perhaps the powers that be were aiming for a completely different direction.

Enter the return of Rosie O’Donnell and two new additions – actress Rosie Perez and the mandatory Republican spokesperson, Nicolle Wallace. Whoopi Goldberg maintained her role as the chief moderator and despite rumors of tension between the comedian and O’Donnell; there was no indication that this new and supposedly improved panel wouldn’t work.

But the reviews after the show’s debut weren’t encouraging and the ratings less impressive, it also didn’t help that CBS’s The Talk was leaving them in the dust.

In situations like this – there has to be someone assigned to take the fall and basically Rosie Perez was the candidate for the job.

Variety confirms that ABC had planned to fire Perez from The View after the industry publication announced the decision on Jan.14. But the network’ executives were wary about suffering the same fate NBC underwent with Ann Curry who was unceremoniously removed from her anchor position on Today back in 2012. Her tearful goodbye was a publicity nightmare for NBC as stories started to circulate about Curry’s bland performance on the show as well as her lack of chemistry with co-anchor Matt Lauer. Lauer was blamed for Curry’s dismissal and immediately became the most hated man in America. It was a media catastrophe that threatened the survival of NBC’s national staple. But the peacock network managed to settle the storm – but it was no easy feat.

So it makes sense that ABC would be willing to do everything within its power to avoid a fiasco that will only add to their already full plate of issues. So for now Perez stays on even though they are not happy with her lackluster contribution to the show – mainly because she doesn’t seem capable of keeping up with the momentum and hasn’t showcased her ability to confidently steer the “Hot Topics”.

Another reason why Perez escaped being ousted was due to the fact that there could be a public outcry over the notion that the only Latina on the panel is being given her walking papers. Then there’s O’Donnell who rarely holds her tongue and is great friends with Perez. Sources say that O’Donnell wasn’t cool with the possibility that her friend could be fired – neither were the other ladies and after the co-hosts demanded an explanation – the executives were forced to reconsider.

Basically there was no other way but to keep Perez employed and hope for the best. The actress who also happens to be a phenomenal dancer is currently on break as she prepares for her upcoming role in Larry David’s Broadway play, Fish in the Dark. The initial plan was to use that as her exit strategy but obviously that will no longer be the case. Perez will be coming back but it will be interesting to see how the dynamic will change once she assumes her seat on the panel.

We are betting that she most likely won’t last too long considering that she is aware how close she came to losing her spot. But only time will tell.