O'Donnell says she was fired from 'View'

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Rosie O'Donnell said during an appearance at a New York comedy club that she was fired from her moderator job on "The View" last season.

O'Donnell and "View" Executive Producer Barbara Walters have previously said the decision was mutual for O'Donnell to leave the television talk show before her contract ended.

But when the stand-up comic was invited to take the stage at the downtown Manhattan club Comix Wednesday night, during Roseanne Barr's set, O'Donnell started off with, "When I was fired by Barbara Walters ...," the New York Daily News reported Friday.

O'Donnell then claimed Walters and other "View" panelists wear earpieces so producers can tell them what to say, which O'Donnell said she declined to do.

Despite their differences, O'Donnell went on to say she and Walters had been very close when she first started working on the show, the Daily News article said.

"She paved the way for women," O'Donnell noted. "She interviewed presidents ... "

"Like Abraham Lincoln," quipped Barr.

Last spring, O'Donnell announced that she would not return to "The View" for a second season.

She ended up leaving before her contract ended, however, after an on-air, verbal dust-up with conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.