SVU & The View Controversy

[LOCIfan]

Did anybody else hear about this? Apparently, on last week's episode of SVU, one of the characters was named Elizabeth Hassenbeck. The character was raped and maybe killed, not sure about if she was murdered, but... Anyway, the character was not a talk show host or married to an NFL player or in any way similar to a woman named Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who's a co-host on The View.

Nonetheless, Elisabeth Hasselbeck was extremely offended by the similarity in the names, believing the character was based on her. Why? Who knows. Big ego, apparently. So she called a writer or producer at SVU to complain and ended up getting hung up on. Then she went on her show and told her tale of woe and NOBODY, none of her co-hosts, suggested the obvious notion that perhaps it was a coincidence. Barbara Walters even said, "maybe they did it because of your conservative political views." Bizarre.

Did anyone else see this?

[Criminal Mastermind]

Someone should have told her that when the L&O writers have it in for you, they've got the balls to be a lot more obvious about it. For more information, please see Nancy Grace, Tom Delay, and Geraldo Riverra

[LOCIfan]

Word, Mastermind. She's obviously not the brightest talentless quasi-celebrity out there!

[filmnoir5]

admin said:

Someone should have told her that when the L&O writers have it in for you, they've got the balls to be a lot more obvious about it. For more information, please see Nancy Grace, Tom Delay, and Geraldo Riverra

Between CI (Wee Hours), Boston Legal, and other shows we will soon get to pick our favorite Nancy Grace parody.

The View episode bit is on www.youtube.com I would rather watch Charlie Rose an hour than The View for 5 minutes. It was a struggle watch even this clip. She said she could not sit next to the people from that show even though they were talented and nice people. Well the only reason I ever turned on The View this past year was to see actors like Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni. Most times they kept on asking Mariska the same questions they did months earlier. There are other and even better talk shows that probably will allow the stars more time to talk about their shows or upcoming
movies.

[filmnoir5]

"Elisabeth Hasselbeck Fumes Over Law & Order
TUESDAY OCTOBER 24, 2006 06:25PM EST

By Brian Orloff and Mark Dagostino

Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Photo by: Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic

The View cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck is fuming mad over an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in which a character, whose name is very close to her own, is raped and killed, she said on Tuesday.

"Last week Law & Order: SVU had an episode where a 30-year-old woman in New York City is raped twice and then murdered – and her name is Elizabeth Hassenback," Hasselbeck, 29, said on The View. "I found this a little disturbing."

Hasselbeck said that after hearing about the show from a friend, she called an SVU executive producer whom she declined to name – though co-host Rosie O'Donnell chimed in, "But you can Google it at home!" – to express her anger.

"I told him 'Look, I want to let you know that I think it's socially irresponsible and gruesomely suggestive to do this in today's day and age," said Hasselbeck, who has an 18-month daughter, Grace, with her husband, New York Giants quarterback Tim Hasselbeck.

She described the executive producer as "defensive right from the jump" and said that he told he her to "chalk up" the name similarity to "coincidence."

When she challenged the idea that the show, which is famous for ripped from the headlines scripts, had coincidentally used a character with a name so close to hers, the producer gave a terse apology, according to Hasselbeck, then said: "Goodbye lady," and hung up on her.

Hasselbeck said that incident made her feel like she never wanted to sit next to an SVU cast member again. "I think those are good actors and good people, but I can't sit next to them without feeling as though I have been disrespected and just put at risk."

A spokesperson for Law & Order: SVU told PEOPLE that before a character can be named on an episode, "all names have to be cleared through legal."

The spokesperson added: "The producers of SVU absolutely love The View and are totally thrilled when one of our actors are on the show. Mariska (Hargitay) has co-hosted the show. Chris (Meloni), (Richard) Belzer and Ice-T have all been on the show."

Barbara Walters, who founded The View, also praised Meloni and Hargitay as "favorite guests" of the show. " people.aol.com

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filmnoir5 said:

She said she could not sit next to the people from that show even though they were talented and nice people.

- The stars, guest stars have nothing to do with what victims will be named. She's acting very childish about this. Truth is L&O and it's flavors do take popular celebs and their situations and use them. But it's very obvious, if L&O were using her for an epi they would have had the character mirror her life. Everyone would have known it was her. Quite honestly I don't think she's enough of a big cheese celeb to be ripped on by L&O.

filmnoir5 said:

Well the only reason I ever turned on The View this past year was to see actors like Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni. Most times they kept on asking Mariska the same questions they did months earlier.

- I've noticed that as well. What's the point of being on their time and again?

I admit I haven't been watching SVU lately - I've TiVoed all of the epi's and am waiting til Olivia's back from the underground to watch. So I hadn't known about the victim with the same name as Hasslebeck and the controversy surrounding it. I'll have to check out this clip.

[Sirenna]

That show has always irritated me because they all talk at once!!! extremely annoying.

Hassenbeck is not Hasselback. Reading skills were never a survivor's strong suit.

If the character, as unlike hasselback as it is, won a pseudo peace prize instead I doubt she would be fighting this energetically. She'd probably think they modelled the character on her for her work with women on The View.