Welcome to Bravo's Salahi Circus, 'View'-Style

Is any publicity good publicity? Michaele Salahi certainly seems to think so.

The latest brouhaha involves "The View," and her allegations that Whoopi Goldberg was abusive to her.

Way to go, Bravo! We certainly didn't have enough bozos like this on television. Of course, what I probably feel most irritated about is the professional obligation that I keep watching the show, even though we know full well the White House epiosde A) won't come till the end and B) will doubtless be edited in a way that's most likely to spare the producers of any culpability.

As for this statement by Bravo's Andy Cohen about featuring the Salahis on the show: "To the people who might excoriate us and say we're making Michaele famous or glorifying what she did: 'here's what' -- we don't make shows to make people famous and as a corollary, we don't view being on a television show either as a reward or a punishment. That's up to the individuals who choose to do so and the people who choose to watch and react."

How do I put this delicately? Bullshit.

P.S. (post-Salahi?): My former Variety colleague, Denise Martin, has this riotous post on TVguide.com -- you have to scroll down to the part that begins "At this point," when Salahi interrupts the interview -- about Bravo's latest "star" not really understanding who her friends are.