Rosie Perez tearfully announces she's leaving 'The View'
Oscar-nominated actress Rosie Perez is stepping down from The View, and she took some time on Wednesday's show to look back at it all.
"I have decided to move on," she said. "Today is very bittersweet for me. I am excited for what is to come, but I'm so sad to leave."
She then took a moment to reflect on memories with Whoopi Goldberg and Nicolle Wallace.
"I want to thank you for your friendship, Nicolle, and your intelligence and your wit and your sunshine. Whoopi, thank you for everything: your guidance, your professionalism and most of all your friendship."
Perez continued by thanking everyone she has worked with on the talk show and the show's fans. She especially thanked the Latin community for supporting her as the first Latina on The View.
"Just know that I do not have one regret for coming to this show," she said. "I would do it all over again. And it's because of you, the fans."
The news that she would be leaving came out late Tuesday. In an email to The View staff, Executive Producer Bill Wolff wrote that Perez has decided to leave the show at the conclusion of this season to resume her career in acting.
"Stepping into the role of talk show host at the same time she has been starring on Broadway has been incredibly impressive," wrote Wolff in the email. "And beyond being an enormously talented performer, Rosie is a dedicated advocate who has brought passion and insight to the panel every day."
Wolff concluded that Perez remains a part of the show's family, and is welcome back as a guest anytime. She will formally depart The View in early August.
Perez, who became a co-host on The View on Sept. 15, 2014, said in an interview at the time with Larry King that she was first convinced to take the job after learning that Wolff, of The Rachel Maddow Show, was going to become the show's new executive producer.
In 2015, Perez returned to Broadway to open Fish in the Dark, a new play written by Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David.
