Katie Couric: ‘I’m Not Replacing Barbara Walters On The View’
Katie Couric has shut down rumors that she will replace Barbara Walters on The View when the veteran journalist retires next summer.
Walters announced her retirement in May, saying that the decision had nothing to do with recent health problems. Walters suffered a concussion in January after tripping on the stairs at the home of Peter Westmacott, Britain’s ambassador to the US. She got the chicken pox a week later and took a six-week leave from The View to recover.
Couric was rumored to be Walters’ replacement, but the 56-year-old insisted that the story was false.
“No, that’s an example I think of a story, I guess, that was printed and then was repeated that’s just not true,” Couric told E! News. “It’s very flattering. I’m a big fan of Barbara’s and a big fan of the show, but it’s completely false.”
Couric added, “Again, I think that unfortunately, linking has replaced reporting and it’s just a strange way of covering the news.”
Barbara Walters also denied the rumor, telling the New York Daily News,“She is always welcome as a guest on The View and I was recently a guest on her show, but there is no truth to the rumor that she will be taking my place on The View.”
The second season of Katie Couric’s talk show, Katie, premiered on September 9, with Lil Wayne as the guest. The “No Worries” rapper confirmed that he plans to retire by the age of 35, and said he stopped drinking sizzurp, the cough syrup concoction blamed for his seizures last year and earlier this year. The first season of the talk show was nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Talk Show Host and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show (Informative). She lost to Steve Harvey and The Dr. Oz Show.
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