Barbara Walters is the subject of a nasty rumor this week after it was reported that she and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg are involved in a feud.

The news comes after a test taping which included CNN’s S.E. Cupp, when Whoopie and Rosie O’Donnell exchanged words with Cupp over the issue of abortion. Goldberg allegedly walked off the set, saying she had been “working with a cranky 85-year-old woman who’s mad about everything for 2 years, and I need a break.”

ABC execs say that the rumor is just that and are doing damage control to keep the show from getting negative press.

“Someone has tried to stir this pot before. This is absolutely absurd. Whoopi is a consummate professional and has an enormous amount of respect for Barbara with whom she has a professional and personal relationship. Unless you were there and heard it first hand, this is nothing more than mean and hurtful rumor,” a rep said in a statement.

The show has not been without controversy in recent months. With Sherri Shepherd leaving and Elisabeth Hasselbeck rival Rosie O’Donnell making a return, former co-host Jenny McCarthy has spoken out about her time at the table, saying she didn’t feel like she could be herself there.

“It’s like halfway into it, it was probably around February, I went, ‘God I’m not allowed to be the best of me here.’ I feel like to have a voice, to be able to speak without having to interrupt people … It’s very difficult, and I don’t like doing it, it’s very uncomfortable, so I felt like, ‘You know what? Maybe this is just a stepping stone for me to go somewhere where I can actually be my full self,” she said.

Image via Wikimedia Commons