BREAKING: Barbara Walters, legendary ABC News Journalist, Dies

Barbara WaltersABC News journalist, who pioneered the inclusion of women on news broadcasts, has passed away. She was 93 years of age.

ABC News broke the story on her death, but she did not give any details or make any statements from her relatives.

Walters was the first woman to anchor an evening news program on ABC News in 1976. Later, she co-hosted the ABC News news show. “20/20” Launched “The View.”

Walters quit co-hosting “The View” In 2014, it was: “I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain. I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women — and OK, some men too — who will be taking my place.”

Walters was born in 1929. Her father worked in the entertainment industry. Walters learned valuable lessons through this experience, which would help her later in her career.

“I would see them onstage looking one way and offstage often looking very different. I would hear my parents talk about them and know that even though those performers were very special people, they were also human beings with real-life problems,” Walters said decades ago. “I can have respect and admiration for famous people, but I have never had a sense of fear or awe.”

Disney CEO Robert Iger responded to Walters’ death in a statement that praised her career.

“Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself,” Iger said. “She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state and leaders of regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons.”

“I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend,” He continued. “She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.”

Today I have bad news. Barbara Walters died this evening at her New York home. pic.twitter.com/fxSyU6BQk4

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) December 31, 2022