It sure didn't take long for the shit slinging to begin, but not 24 hours after Star Jones quit The View, Barbara Walters has told the Post that she'd been betrayed by Her Beardness. When Jones interrupted yesterday's show to announce that she was quitting, she didn't mention anything about being fired — but in an interview with People magazine, which hit online before yesterday's show was done, Jones said that producers had decided not to renew her contract, adding, "I feel like I was fired." This came as a surprise to Walters:

"I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could — up until this morning, when I was betrayed — to protect her. [...] I would have loved for Star to have left and not said, 'I was fired,' and not make it look like the program was somehow being cruel to her."

Shocking, isn't it, to be betrayed by someone who lies about everything from her homoerotic husband to her diamond-studded boots to her artfully stapled stomach? Meanwhile, a "source" says Jones executed her exit as she did so that "her fans would turn against the show." We're not sure who these fans are, exactly, but if you see any of them — probably stumbling around outside an OTB and muttering about messianic pigeons — let us know.

Baba Blasts Star [NYP]
Earlier: Watch Now: Star Jones Listens to Her Heart