One of the best things about rumors is that half of the time you don’t even hear the original rumor, you only hear the official response to the rumor, which is great because it’s a real time saver. Oh, that thing that probably sounded fake in the first place turned out to be fake and now we can all move on with our lives as if that didn’t even suck up too much time already? Perfect. This happened again over the weekend, when someone circulated a rumor about Elisabeth Hasselbeck leaving The View after test audiences purportedly didn’t like her and disagreed with her politics. This morning, Barbara Walters debunked these rumors, saying that Elisabeth Hasselbeck would continue to appear on The View and that her opinions gave the show balance. Oh, so nothing happened? Good story. And yet here we are still! From the New York Times:

Such a suggestion is dangerous for “The View.” Ms. Walters, who both co-hosts and produces the show, denied its accuracy on Monday, saying, “We love Elisabeth” and “We value and appreciate her point of view.” She said Ms. Hasselback “helps give this show perspective and balance” and added, “We have no plans for Elisabeth to leave this show.” But co-hosts can choose to leave, Ms. Walters pointed out — leaving the door open for Ms. Hasselbeck.

“Right now, the only person who cannot leave this show is me,” Ms. Walters added, implicitly denying online speculation that she might also be thinking about departing.

Poor Barbara. Trapped in an overly opinionated prison of her own design! Hey, remember how Elisabeth Hasselbeck was originally a contestant on SURVIVOR and now we all have to pretend that her poorly formed opinions on our national politics have value and add “perspective” and “balance” to anything whatsoever? LOL. She’s bunk! But it was a weird rumor in the first place. Test audiences have only just decided they don’t like her? Where have you been test audiences? Why the silent treatment for so many years? Snopes.