FIREWORKS AS O’REILLY GUESTS ON THE VIEW

In an unprecedented display of temper between opposing factions on a TV talk show, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the stage of The View Thursday during an appearance by Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly. The walkout came after O’Reilly, who was promoting his latest book, Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama, said that it was inappropriate to build an Islamic Center near ground zero in New York, “because Muslims killed us on 9/11.” After Goldberg uttered an expletive (bleeped on the air), Behar rose and remarked, “I don’t want to sit here. I don’t. I’m outraged by that statement.” As she walked off, Goldberg followed her. A clearly miffed Barbara Walters, who created and oversees The View, scolded her colleagues, saying, “We should be able to have discussions without washing our hands and screaming and walking offstage.” She then turned to O’Reilly and commented that 9/11 was the work of extremists and that “you cannot take a whole religion and demean them.” O’Reilly denied that he had demeaned anybody — but finally remarked, “If anybody felt that I was demeaning all Muslims, I apologize.” With that, Goldberg and Behar returned. “We’re back now because you apologized,” Behar said.