• Barbara Walters and her The View cohosts were full of on-air praise for the audience members who came out to "support" them yesterday in the aftermath of Rosie O'Donnell's stormy departure from the show. But when the camera wasn't rolling, however, it was a different story, according to someone who was present at the taping. During commercial breaks, there was significant grumbling among the spectators, most of whom had obtained their tickets weeks ago in expectation of seeing O'Donnell. One guest even raised her hand during a question-and-answer session to ask Elisabeth Hasselbeck, "Have you apologized to Rosie yet?" (She hadn't.)
• Remember Ozzy Osbourne? With a new solo album to promote, the middle-aged Prince of Darkness is back and talking to Details about his last time around, on MTV's The Osbournes. "My son said to me one day, 'Dad, let me ask you a question. Do you like people laughing with you or at you?' And I said, 'You know what, Jack? As long as they're laughing, I really don't give a fuck,'" Osbourne relates. "I didn't really understand what he was saying then, but in hindsight, he was sort of saying, in a nicer way, that everybody thinks you're a fucking joke."
He also has a belated explanation for why he decided to lend the Bush Administration his tacit endorsement by attending the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2002: "I was fucking out of my tree. I was absolutely fucking loaded."
• There is more news on that pestering little Fergie appearance in the Hamptons last weekend, as chronicled by Gatecrasher. Sources tell Radar that the pea-size performer was never slated to sing, despite an on-air claim to the contrary by radio station Party 105—Fergie was only contractually obligated to show her mug. But a source says she did decide to grab the mic and say a few words to the crowd—in exchange for an almost $50,000 payday.
Photo: Getty Images