As rumored [0], this morning Rosie announced that she will be leaving The View. Obviously, Donald has already called into any radio show that will have him and claimed responsibility for her "firing" [1] (though that's not how the girls positioned her departure). Below is the clip of her announcement. It's sweet, and then it gets annoying...and then Rosie plugs her blog...and then she tries to pick food out of Barbara's teeth. Naturally. Here are Rosie and Barbara's official statements: [2]

• From Rosie: "This has been an amazing experience, and one I wouldn't have traded for the world. Working with Barbara, Joy and Elisabeth has been one of the highlights of my career, but my needs for the future just didn't dovetail with what ABC was able to offer me. To all the viewers out there, I just want to say 'thank you' for opening up your hearts and your homes to me this past year. But you can always find me at rosie.com. Here's hoping there's more confetti for all of us going forward."
• From Barbara: "I induced Rosie to come back to television on 'The View' even for just one year. She has given the program new vigor, new excitement and wonderful hours of television. I can only be grateful to her for this year. I am very sad that ABC Daytime could not reach an agreement with her for a second year. We will all miss Rosie on 'The View,' and hope she will be back with us often next season. She remains for me a cherished friend and colleague."

As if that's not an exciting enough week on The View, the girls have lined up a doozy of a guest for Friday. Alec Baldwin himself will be coming on the show [3] to discuss "parental alienation." That should be interesting.