According to a new report, the end may be near for one of journalism’s most respected voices.
Barbara Walters may not have a lot of time left.
The long-time reporter and former co-host on The View has not been seen in public for about a year and a half.
The last recorded sighting of Walters took place in July of 2016, after two months after she left The View.
At 88 years old, Walters is allegedly confined to a wheelchair and almost never leaves her apartment in New York City, a friend tells Radar Online.
This isn’t stunning news for someone of her advanced age, but the insider is reportedly distressed because Walters is living such an isolated existence.
“No one is allowed access into her apartment,” this unnamed person tells Radar Online, adding:
“Friends have been trying to see Barbara since the summer, but the doormen keep turning everyone away.”
This same celebrity gossip website has claimed in the past that Walters is suffering from a touch of hearing loss and heart disease; she’s supposedly been showing signs of serious dementia for months.
This is very sad if it’s true.
In 1976, Walters became the first woman to host a national news program, doing so for ABC and earning a then-unprecedented paycheck of $ 1 million annually for her work.
From 1979 to 2004, she worked as co-host and a producer for the ABC news magazine 20/20.
She still serves as an executive producer on The View.
But Walters no longer goes into work, which is understandable for an 88-year old.
The problem here is that she doesn’t appear to be enjoying a well-earned retirement at all.
“Barbara broke her hip a few months ago, and she’s in a wheelchair now 24/7,” writes Radar, quoting its source on the story.
“She sits propped up in it in her library overlooking Central Park all day. She stares at the same page of a newspaper for hours.”
Continues the source:
“All she does is go from the bed to her wheelchair and back again.
“She hasn’t seen her beloved hairdresser or makeup artist, Lori, in over a year. Her house staff washes her hair and pulls it back in a ponytail.”
Someone close to the situation thinks Walters has Alzheimer’s Disease, Radar reports.
What does bring her joy on a daily basis?
Tuning in to watch her friends and former colleagues on The View, according to the website.
It’s unclear for how much longer she’ll be able to do this, however.
“Friends just want to say goodbye,” this source eerily says. “They simply want to see that she’s well taken care of.”