Star Jones Defends Her Point Of View

Says Fans Deserved Truth, Not Lie About Ouster From Walters Show

(CBS/AP)  Ousted cast member Star Jones Reynolds said Thursday she was told she could "make up a story" about why she was leaving "The View" and her colleagues would have gone along with it.

The news that Reynolds wouldn't have her contract renewed for a 10th year on the daytime talk show exploded this week into a bitter war of words involving show creator Barbara Walters.

Reynolds, appearing Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live," said she'd been told in April that she wasn't coming back but kept it secret. She revealed it on Tuesday's show, taking Walters and ABC by surprise with the timing.

The truth — that Reynolds' ABC bosses didn't want her back because her personal popularity was plummeting — might never have been known without the fight.

"They said you can make up a story," Reynolds said. "The audience didn't deserve for me to make up a story. That's not fair."

Walters has confirmed the intended deception, but said it was done to protect Reynolds' reputation and feelings.

ABC said it canned Reynolds immediately after Tuesday's show because her announcement, and an interview with People magazine, took the network by surprise.

"The decision to end our working relationship with Star was a difficult one and made with great thought," Brian Frons, the President of ABC Daytime said in a statement released to theshowbuzz.com. "The network and the show's producers attempted to be compassionate towards Star in the timing and handling of this announcement. It is never our practice to initiate public discussions about private business matters but given what happened on air Tuesday and in learning of the People magazine interview, we felt we had to."

"It has been a difficult week for everyone, but we don't want any of that to take away from the fact that we greatly value Star's contributions to the show over many years," the statement said. "She is a talented, professional woman and we wish her the best going forward."

Walters told The Associated Press that she felt betrayed, and ABC said it couldn't trust Reynolds to tell the truth if she remained on the air.

Reynolds said she was "having trouble reconciling" ABC's statement with being told earlier that she could lie about her exit.