Barbara Walters Retiring? (VIDEO)
Is she or isn’t she? On Thursday, entertainment news website TMZ reported that after decades on the air, Barbara Walters would be hanging up her hat and retiring in the New Year.
However, according to the website “The View,” the veteran newswoman, 82, will not be going off the airwaves in 2012.
“Barbra has joked that she is retiring every year since the Clinton administration,” Senior Vice President of ABC News Communications Jeffery Schneider said in an official statement regarding the probable retirement of the distinguished co-host.
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“Anyone who just did a day trip to Syria, 90-minute prime-time special and interview with the President and First Lady hardly sounds like someone retiring from anything,” Schneider added.
“Disregard the rumors– our Barbara is here to stay,” said a blog post on the popular morning show website.
Barbara Walters Retiring?The news of Walters’ possible retirement came on the same day that the veteran newswoman announced her “Most Fascinating Person of 2011.” This year’s title went to none other than deceased Apple guru Steve Jobs.
It was the first time that the coveted title went to someone who is no longer living, but Walters explained her reasoning for awarding the title to the deceased by saying, “Rules were meant to be broken.”
Jobs was selected for the title earlier in the year, while he was still alive. Following his death the popular host found it fitting that rules be broken for a man who broke so many rules throughout his own life and successful career.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs told students in 2005 at a Stanford University commencement speech.
Herman Cain, Donald Trump, Pippa Middleton, and the Kardashians also topped the "Most Fascinating" list for 2011.
