Rosie O'Donnell Outing Controversy: From Clay Aiken to TMZ.Com

Rosie O'Donnell was brought to the 'View' by her pal Barbara Walters to create controversy and improve ratings.  Many believe Rosie O'Donnell is a blowhard that is a bit over the top and she has given critics a ton of ammo of late with her outing of Clay Aiken, her criticism of Kelly Ripa and her dressing down by Barbara Walters.

Rosie O'Donnell Outing Controversy: From Clay Aiken to TMZ.Com

First, as the Post Chronicle points out, she accused the AOL Entertainment web site TMZ.com of outing gay celebs.

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The web site wrote earlier in November:

Rosie O'Donnell took a shot at TMZ this morning on "The View," accusing us of outing gay celebs in the same way that PerezHilton.com has done. Not that there's anything wrong with coming out of the closet, but -- yo, Ro! -- get your facts straight! TMZ has, for the record, never outed anyone; gay, bisexual, alien or otherwise, and that's really not what we're about.

O'Donnell was talking about her own gay admission to Warner Bros. execs when she started her talk show back in 1995, and said that she kept it mainly under wraps to avoid controversy. But, she added, "At the time when my show was on, there was no Drudge Report, there was no Perez Hilton, there was no TMZ, and you could be gay and have a big successful career and no one would ask you -- no journalist ever asked me."

Frankly, Rosie, we at TMZ don't shy away from the tough questions, but we're not in the business of outing people -- so back off, girlfriend!

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Next Rosie herself tried to out Clay Aiken after he has a bit of a spat with Kelly Ripa.

Lynda Johnson of the National Ledger gave this account of that incident earlier:

The talk show battle began when Kelly Ripa took offense to Clay Aiken covering her mouth during an interview.  Ripa was talking on her own show when the former American Idol star covered her mouth with his hand so he could speak.

Ripa then pushed his hand away and told him that was a no-no.  "Oh, I'm in trouble," said the 27-year-old "American Idol" star, to which Ripa responded, "No, I just don't -- I don't know where that hand's been, honey."

That put Rosie O'Donnell on the warpath.  O'Donnell said on "The View": "If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn't question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing."

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Then her boss Barbara tried to muzzle the obnoxious O'Donnell. 

"I love this show to be lively, and yesterday it certainly was lively," said Walters, who took the day off Tuesday. "This is what I want to say. Rosie O'Donnell is one of the kindest, most sensitive people I know. And so is our friend Kelly Ripa. And Rosie and Kelly talked yesterday after the show. Rosie and Clay Aiken have talked. And all is well with the world, and all is well with them. So let's move on."

Calling herself "Mama Bear," Walters said that her speech was not rehearsed and that O'Donnell didn't know it was coming.

When Walters finished, O'Donnell said: "The sheriff is back in town! There you go."

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So - basically Rosie swings and misses. 

O'Donnell does have fans and she does court controversy.  But she is so clueless on so many issues and with her shots at the Drudge Report and TMZ (since when does Drudge and TMZ out people?) show that she will basically say anything, facts be damned.

That's why 'The View' is no longer for me.