Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Elisabeth Hasselbeck | |
|---|---|
| File:Ehasselbeck.jpg | |
| Born | May 28, 1977 |
| Occupation | Co-host on The View |
| Spouse | Tim Hasselbeck (6 July 2002 - present) |
| Children | Grace Elisabeth Hasselbeck (born April 6, 2005) |
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, (born Elisabeth Grace Filarski), born on May 28 1977, in Cranston, Rhode Island), is an American television personality. She initially worked as a footwear designer but came to public attention after she placed fourth in the television program Survivor: The Australian Outback. She currently is the youngest host on the daytime talk show The View. She is of Polish and Italian descent.
Biography
As a child, she lived in Providence and Cranston, Rhode Island. She graduated from St. Mary Academy - Bay View in Riverside, Rhode Island in 1995. She worked as a shoe designer for Puma in 1998, while attending Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Elisabeth has Celiac Disease, and has talked about it many times on The View.
At Boston College, she was a 1997 and 1998 Orientation Leader.[1] She also played softball at BC and was captain of the team for two seasons. She graduated from BC in 1999.[2]
During her season of Survivor, Survivor: The Australian Outback (2001), she was originally a member of the Kucha tribe, and was the last remaining member of that tribe in the game before being voted off on Day 39 and finishing fourth overall. As her luxury item, she brought a self-made immunity headdress. At the end of the game, she was the most popular Survivor of that season among the fans, rating a 9.3 out of 10 in the online approval poll. Producers wanted her to return for the Survivor: All-Stars edition, but she was unable to attend because she was starting her tenure at The View at the time.
From 1999 to 2002, she hosted the Style Network documentary-style style program Stylemakers. She was also the host of The Look for Less from 2002 to 2003. In 2003, Elisabeth was one of a number of women who guest-hosted to replace outgoing The View co-host Lisa Ling (Ling left the show at the end of 2002). Elisabeth was then among the last few contenders, and was finally chosen by the ladies (in a Survivor-style Tribal Council) as the new co-host.
Hasselbeck represents the conservative position on The View, defending creationism and opposing euthanasia and abortion.[3] She was a supporter of President George W. Bush's re-election campaign and delivered a primetime speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
She is a supporter of cervical health and encourages women to have regular exams. In recent years she has worked with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Making Memories Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, The Wireless Amber Alert Program Initiative and The World Scholar Athlete Games.
In July 2002, she married her college sweetheart, current New York Giants third-string quarterback Tim Hasselbeck. In the past, Hasselbeck has been open about owing much of her career to the influence of her husband's family, particularly her father-in-law, Don Hasselbeck. On April 6 2005, she gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Grace Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Her brother-in-law is Seattle Seahawks Pro-bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
In 2007, Elisabeth was asked to participate in the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars. She turned the offer down due to her commitment with The View and her family.
On April 30 2007, Hasselbeck made a public comment revealing she was 3 months pregnant with her second child. The baby is due to be born sometime in November.[4]
On May 7 2007, she and her husband attended the Bush administration's first white-tie state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Episodes of note
On April 12 2006's episode of The View, Barbara Walters read a statement on behalf of Elisabeth and her husband, Tim Hasselbeck. In the statement, Walters revealed that she and her family had been stalked "by an individual or individuals who seem to want to do them harm" and that false rumors/accusations (regarding the couple and their baby daughter, Grace) were also being spread. Walters then went on to reveal that the appropriate authorities had been contacted and that the matter was on its way to being settled. Little else was revealed in the tense segment, and her fellow co-hosts expressed their full and complete support for Elisabeth and her family.[5]
On an episode which aired on August 2 2006, Hasselbeck got into a heated debate in which she strongly opposed the Food and Drug Administration's plan to sell the "morning after pill" as an over-the-counter drug. Experts believe it is possible that the pill prevents implantation of an already fertilized egg.[6] Hasselbeck stated, "I believe that life begins at the moment of penetration...and when that egg is fertilized..." She felt the pill should be banned in cases of rape and incest, because "that life still has value." Hasselbeck argued that advocates of the drug use the "rape or incest" exception as a "bait-and-switch" distraction from the goal of making it universally accessible. She argued if the "rape or incest" exception was all advocates cared about, they would not support its over-the-counter status. After Joy Behar poked fun at Hasselbeck's argument (finishing Hasselbeck's comment "life begins" with "with flirting"), Hasselbeck, visibly upset, became louder and her co-host, Barbara Walters told her to "calm down".[7]
On an episode which aired October 17 2006, Hasselbeck took issue with the use of the name Elizabeth Hassenback given to a character on the TV drama Law & Order SVU who was raped and killed. She said that the use of the name, which she claimed clearly implied her, was deliberate and stated it was "socially irresponsible." It is also of note that Hasselbeck and her family had previously had problems with a stalker, which may have lent to her upset and the idea that it was socially irresponsible.
Several times in March 2007, Hasselbeck and Rosie O'Donnell argued while on the air. On the first occasion, the discussion ended with Rosie telling Hasselbeck that she was "very young and very wrong". On March 22, during an interview with documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, O'Donnell told Hasselbeck during her comments regarding the film Ghosts of Abu Ghraib that she needed to ask a question, and then allow the guest to speak.[8]
In the April 9, 2007, issue of People magazine, Hasselbeck asserted that she and O'Donnell are friends off-stage, that they e-mail frequently, and that O'Donnell has inspired her to speak out more on the program. O'Donnell has also stated on her official blog that the two get along very well off the show, contrary to popular belief.
On the April 11, 2007 episode of The View, Hasselbeck announced that she would be guest co-hosting Fox's Fox and Friends the week of April 16. This led to speculation that Hasselbeck's contract with The View would not be renewed as ABC allowed her to appear on a competing network. On April 25, 2007 co-host Barbara Walters announced Elisabeth will indeed return the following season along with Joy Behar.
On April 12, 2007, Hasselbeck appeared as a guest on Fox's Hannity and Colmes. She discussed Don Imus's allegedly racist remarks and other passionate issues. Hasselbeck also discussed her political stance, stating that she calls herself neither a conservative nor a liberal. She told Hannity and Colmes of her parents' independent political stance, never telling their children who they voted for. She also told the two co-hosts that the term "conservative" does not define her as a person; she defines herself.
Argument with Rosie O'Donnell
On the May 23, 2007, episode of The View, Hasselbeck became engaged in a heated debate with co-host Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell asserted that Hasselbeck was "cowardly" for not answering whether she believed O'Donnell thinks of American troops as terrorists, a talking point for Republican pundits (in reference to O'Donnell's comment earlier in the week in which she said 655,000 Iraqis have died since the United States invasion and asked "who are the real terrorists in Iraq?"). O'Donnell also complained how the media would portray her as a bully attacking "innocent pure Christian Elisabeth" whenever they disagreed on air. O'Donnell stated that she believed Republican pundits were mischaracterizing her statements by accusing her of comparing American troops to terrorists, and had asked Hasselbeck if she agreed with the Republican pundits. Hasselbeck denied O'Donnell's accusation, claiming that she knew Rosie didn't think that US soldiers were "terrorists" but told O'Donnell that she needed to "defend herself" as it was not her place to defend controversial statements made by O'Donnell.
The debate became even more heated and co-hosts Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd made several attempts to stop the argument, with Shepherd at one point asking Elisabeth if her unborn child was "okay," apparently fearing the heated argument would hurt the baby's and mother's health. As the argument continued to escalate, a visibly upset Behar then called out (apparently to the production team): "Who's directing this show?! Cut to commercial!" The show did in fact cut to commercials shortly afterwards, and the subject was not resumed.
References
- ^ "BC Education". www.bc.edu. Retrieved 1999-11-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "IMDB". IMDB.com. Retrieved 1999-05-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Christianity Today". www.christianitytoday.com. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
- ^ "People". www.people.com. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ "TV Talk Shows". www.tvtalkshows.com. Retrieved 2006-04-12.
- ^ "How EC Works". ec.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
- ^ "Women on the Verge". cbc.ca. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
- ^ "You Tube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.