Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg verbally flambéed commentator Glenn Beck today on The View.  It’s always interesting to watch a celebrity who is so obviously caught in a lie.  Perhaps what made it so fascinating though was that the dialogue kept co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck silent for six minutes and thirty-five seconds.

Barbara Walters has no more questions. And I have no more lunch. Thanks.

Here’s Rosie’s response to this.

Middle school: the richer you get, the longer it lasts.

Never, people. It was in their original contracts. The “must feud forever” clause. It’s been great for everyone’s publicity, Babs.

Babs announced today that she’s received word from Sam Lutfi that Britney’s been receiving help for “mental issues which are treatable.”

“She has been to a psychiatrist,” Walters said, recounting Lutfi’s explanation over the phone. “She, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment.”

Also, Mama Spears landed in LA on Sunday night. Perhaps we can get some help for this girl yet!

Just a few more months left of the Rosie/View insanity. I hope. (Please, God?) Lest we allow a non-story with such fun characters — Rosie! Barbara! Donald! — to flicker and die as it ought to, the New York Post has pulled out the defibrillator and somone’s yelling “Clear!” In today’s edition, they swear up and down that Rosie’s departure had nothing to do with ABC’s insistence on a three-year contract; rather, Rosie refused to stay on the daytime chat-fest unless its creator, Barbara Walters, was sent packing.

“They’re talking [publicly] about how they couldn’t come to terms … but … her leaving had nothing to do with that,” said an insider.

According to another ABC insider, “They really had hoped to re-sign her because without Rosie, they’re going to have a lot of trouble keeping up their ratings and filling two [co-host] slots.”

Agreed. Losing Rosie was about the silliest thing that show could have done — although, theoretically, she’ll still be on sporadically — you know, when there’s a narcissistic feud to engage in or if Kelly Ripa dares to chastise another human being for putting their hand on her face without her permission.

ABC, in theory, could have bought out Barbara’s share of the show and given her the boot, but their concerns about Rosie’s extreme behavior outweighed her contribution to ratings, say other insiders.

Says Rosie’s publicist: “That’s absolutely not true, it’s categorically false. People are making things up because they want to pit two powerful women against each other. Rosie just did not want to commit to three years.”

Even I have to admit that Jessica Alba’s ass is incredible. [IDLYITW]

Tara Reid goes down…under. To Australia. I swear. Also, she had to buy her hair its own seat on the plane. [Celebrity Smack]

Mandy Moore and DJ AM are “in the early stages of dating,” which consists primarily of awkward photo ops. [The Blemish]

Brooke Burke pops out a kid, gives it a name better suited to a feminine hygiene product. [Celeb Warship]

Mr. Blackwell releases his worst dressed list for 2006. Brit and Paris tie for first. No, seriously. [Mollygood]

More witty repartee from Donald, Rosie and Barbara, for anyone still following this. [TMZ]

Britney Spears’ stylist: “Don’t blame me!” [Pop on the Pop]

I cannot believe this feud is still going strong. Jesus. Let’s bring in a clique of seventh-grade girls to teach these people conflict resolution skills. It can only help. This spat is completely ridiculous and humiliating to all involved parties at this point. Sigh. Let’s backtrack, all the way to this morning.

Both the New York Post and the Daily News ran items today about a spat that occurred backstage at The View yesterday, when both Rosie and Barbara Walters returned from vacation. When Barbara tried to hug Rosie, O’Donnell reportedly screamed at her, “You kept me in the newspapers this whole time!” Said Rosie, “You went all around this and never called [Trump] a liar. You never said, ‘Donald is lying.’ You never called him a liar.” This is, of course, in regards to the on-going feud between Rosie and Donald, in which Donald stated on national television that Barbara had personally told him that putting Rosie on The View was a huge mistake. Walters tried to defend herself, but Rosie wouldn’t let her get a word in. A rep for Rosie and Barbara didn’t even have the strength to straight-up deny that a fight occurred. Her best efforts: “Whatever happened in the hair and makeup room was hardly a squabble. It’s business as usual, everyone has moved on.”

When The View began taping that morning, Walters quickly stated on air, “Let me say definitively, everything that he [Trump] said I said about her [Rosie] is untrue.”

Trump, whose latest season of The Apprentice debuted Sunday to dismal ratings, isn’t going to let go of this so easily. That would require some level of maturity, a concept foreign to Mr. Trump since this feud began. After reading the Post article, Trump penned a vicious letter to Rosie, in which he states:

An article in today’s New York Post indicates that you blew up at BARBARA WALTERS for being a ‘liar.’ Actually, I don’t blame you, but in fact she lied to both of us! After your maniacal and foolish rant against me two weeks ago, Barbara called me from her vacation (I did not call her) in order to apologize for your behavior. She had heard that I was going to retaliate against you and tried to talk me out of it. She very much wanted me to go on the show as soon as she got back so that she could ‘patch things up’ (I said no). To be exact, she said that ‘working with her is like living in hell’ and, more pointedly, ‘Donald, never get into the mud with pigs’ and, ‘don’t worry, she won’t be here for long.’ Barbara knows exactly what she told me over the phone and she has to live with it. Perhaps that’s why her initial statement was so mild!

In another incident, when I saw her eating at Le Cirque about two months ago and asked how ‘Rosie was doing,’ she sarcastically rolled her eyes and said ‘Donald, do you have to ruin my meal.’

In any event, you have a good reason to be angry. Please give my warmest regards to Kelly!

These people make Paris and Nicole look mature. Grow up, guys!