You may have heard the rumors that the Star Jones era at The View would soon be coming to an end: NY Daily News JV Gossip Lloyd Grove reports today that Jones has "signed a lucrative deal" at another network, and that the big announcement would come Friday. Lest Star's legions of fans think they had three more days to prepare for the news and subsequent grieving, we feel the need to warn our readers that the announcement came today: Calling her run "the most amazing nine years of my entire professional and personal life," Jones said she would be leaving mid-July and was "not sure what the future holds." And while we don't have the actual clip, we do have the above video of Jason Sehorn hitting Jones in the face with a football. It's a fitting illustration of what obviously hastened her departure, where Sehorn stands in for Barbara Walters, the football symbolizes Rosie O'Donnell, and an incapacitated, swollen-faced Jones represents, well, exactly that.

UPDATE: Jones tells People: "'What you don't know is that my contract was not renewed for the tenth season. I feel like I was fired.' She adds that she was told her contract wouldn't be renewed just days before news leaked that O'Donnell would be joining The View."

• Star Jones quits 'The View' after nine years [MSNBC/AP]
• Star gazing may soon end for 'View'-ers [NY Daily News]
• Star Jones Reynolds: 'I Was Fired' [People]