14 DAY TRIAL // Oprah is realizing that she started with OWN, her network, on the wrong footing. After firing Rosie O'Donnell over the weekend, the talk show host fired plenty other associates / collaborators.
TMZ describes it as a “bloodbath” and, if what it's saying is accurate, there's no better way to refer to it.
Oprah might have decided to cut her losses and get off to a fresh start and, at this point, there's probably no better way for her to do it.
Ever since it launched, OWN has struggled to make an impression on viewers, constantly losing the ratings battle.
As we also informed you a couple of days ago, this was also the reason why she chose not to renew Rosie's show for a second season.
“First Rosie... now TMZ has learned roughly 30 people got the chop at the Oprah Winfrey Network today, including 2 high level execs,” the e-zine reports.
“Sources connected to OWN tell us, people from at least 3 departments were let go, including the creative services dept., integrated marketing and promo scheduling,” TMZ adds.
“We're told one of the casualties was the head of the Creative Services Department. Another was the Senior Vice President of Production. One source tells us the group included people with years of experience in the industry as well as newcomers,” the report further notes.
While the number of people let go at once is surely impressive, the source claims it all happened in the most calm and respectful manner possible.
Rosie and Oprah also attempted to feign civility when the cancellation announcement was made, but the reality is another one, word in the blogosphere has it.
For the show, Rosie worked with Oprah's former people, the same who worked on her insanely successful show.
They've been telling the press that Rosie is an unprofessional, tantrum-throwing “bully,” while she reportedly says they couldn't do their job.
If there's one person who's happy about the situation, that's real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump, who has been feuding with Rosie for years.
“Rosie O'Donnell has failed again. Her ratings were abysmal and Oprah canceled her on Friday night. When will media executives learn that Rosie just hasn't got it,” he wrote on his Twitter page.