UPDATED: War Of Words Breaks Out Between ‘The View’ & The Salahis

A war of words has erupted between “The View” and reported White House party crashers the Salahis following an appearance by Michaele Salahi on the ABC talk show on Wednesday.

On Wednesday evening, a rep for “The View” sent Access Hollywood a statement, in which they claimed “The Real Housewives of DC” castmember Michaele accused the show’s moderator, Whoopi Goldberg, of striking her during her Wednesday appearance on the program.

“At one point during Michaele Salahi’s appearance on ‘The View’ on Wednesday, Whoopi lightly touched Ms. Salahi to get her attention and said to her, ‘Excuse me, can you get back to the White House, please,’ meaning could Ms. Salahi return to the original subject of the conversation,” the statement from “The View” rep read. “After the show, Ms. Salahi and her husband accused Whoopi of hitting Ms. Salahi.”

However, late Wednesday night, through their newly hired counsel, celebrity attorney Lisa Bloom, the couple issued a statement where they did not use the word “hit,” but instead claimed Goldberg “shook” Michaele’s arm.

“During pointed questioning about an unrelated incident… Whoopi Goldberg came from backstage behind Mrs. Salahi, shook her arm, and told her to move on and talk about the White House,” Bloom’s statement to Access read. “This was startling to Mrs. Salahi, as she was being interviewed by Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd, and Whoopi Goldberg was not part of the segment.”

According to Bloom, the move “unnerved” Michaele.

“Mrs. Salahi was surprised and unnerved (as anyone would be) that someone would come up from behind on live TV and tell her to stop answering the question that the actual interviewers had posed to her,” Bloom’s statement to Access continued. “If Ms. Goldberg didn’t like how the interview was being conducted, she should have taken her grievances to the shows’ producers and co-hosts — not Mrs. Salahi, and certainly not while she was a guest on the live show.”

Following the show taping, Bloom said Salahi “was in tears.”

“She told a show producer she was upset that Whoopi Goldberg had come up behind her and grabbed her arm,” Bloom’s statement continued. “The producer went to get Ms. Goldberg, who then yelled a long series of profanities at Mrs. Salahi.”

“The View” also noted in their statement to Access that “a heated exchange” between the Salahis and Goldberg occurred.

“After the show and after being told she was being accused of hitting Ms. Salahi, Whoopi proceeded to defend herself verbally from this baseless claim in a heated exchange with the Salahis,” the statement to Access concluded.

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