Barbara Walters may have been behind Hasselbeck's 'View' apology

Wonderwall, Friday, May 7, 2010, 8:33am (PDT)

By Jennifer Odell

Was Elisabeth Hasselbeck's apology to Erin Andrews regarding her skimpy "DWTS" outfits heartfelt or simply prodded out of her by Barbara Walter?

PopEater is reporting that Wednesday's on-air apology may have been an idea masterminded by Walters, who thought it was likely to be "ratings gold."

"Barbara thought it would be a good idea to have Elisabeth apologize on air," an insider tells the Web site. "No one is more professional than Barbara, and since the comment was made on 'The View,' the apology should also be made on 'The View.' Plus, all this drama is great for ratings."

RELATED VIDEO: Hasselbeck's teary apology

On Tuesday's episode of "The View," Hasselbeck suggested that the man convicted of stalking Andrews could have seen more skin had he waited to check out her sexy outfits on "Dancing With The Stars."

Her comments sparked some major Twitter backlash, inciting the wrath of Andrews' "Dancing" partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, among others.

RELATED: Which other stars aren't playing nice?

Andrews reacted in tears, telling Access Hollywood: "I think people can have opinions about the show, but my biggest complaint is she's a woman and a mother and it was a mockery of something I've lived through this last year ... I felt like it was a slap in the face for victims of stalkers and victims of sexual predators."

In the wake of the negative press, Hasselbeck lunged for some brownie points from her mostly female demographic, invoking the help of her 5-year-old, whom she claimed suggested an apology was in order.

"[My daughter is] so cute. She said to me, 'Mommy, why don't you just call Erin and tell her you're sorry?'" Hasselbeck recounted on Wednesday's show. "So, thankfully, I listened to her — she's a wise little girl — and I did. I'm really sorry, and I wanted to offer that publicly too, even though I did follow that advice."

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