Skip to Content

Some people seem to think Grey’s Anatomy should simply replace controversial, fired African-American actor Isaiah Washington with another star of similar disposition. Like Taye Diggs. The racist thinking goes: Who would notice the difference?

Somewhat similarly, reports are coming in that The View is considering replacing lesbian Rosie O’Donnell with one of two gay men: Mario Cantone or Ross Mathews.

People magazine says that Cantone – a frequent guest on the ABC chat-fest and the guy who played Charlotte’s friend Anthony on Sex and the City – is the front-runner; Mathews is better known as “Ross the Intern” from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Both of the men are slated to fill in as guest co-hosts next month: Cantone will appear on The View on the July 12; Mathews will take a turn in O’Donnell’s old seat on July 17. We wonder how Elisabeth Hasselbeck feels about this development.

While a View spokesperson confirms that Cantone and Mathews will be guest co-hosting, he would not comment on who might fill the vacant seat.

“No offer has been made to anyone at this point,” he said, also dispelling talk that the job belongs to Whoopi Goldberg.

Former co-host Debbie Matenopoulos has championed the idea of hiring a man ever since O’Donnell announced she was leaving.

“It is high time they put a gay man on that panel,” Matenopoulos said to People. “They’ve said ‘We can’t put a man here.’ I disagree. Why does it have to be guys against girls? I have a better time and solve more problems sitting with my gay guy friends than my girlfriends!”

But what about posing in Playboy, Debbie? She wasn’t asked about that, leaving readers to focus on the hilarity that newswoman Jill Nicolini once donned her birthday suit for the magazine.