Why was joy behar fired from the view

Joy Behar may have made her official departure from "The View" in August but it wasn't the first time she thought she'd have to say good bye to the daytime talk show.

In fact, seven years earlier the 70-year-old comedian prematurely spilled the beans about Rosie O'Donnell joining the show for the Primetime Emmys and she was fired.

"(Barbara Walters) fired me once," she said on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Sept. 18. "It was Emmys time and Rosie O'Donnell was coming on the show. But it was a big secret and (Barbara) was going to announce it at the Emmys so I was supposed to keep my mouth shut."

While perusing the gift shop at the Emmys, Behar was nonchalantly approached by "Entertainment Tonight."

"(They ask) 'How do you feel about Rosie coming on the show?' I say, 'I'm thrilled, I think it's great.' Then I continue shopping," she recalled. She immediately realized what she had done.

Why was joy behar fired from the view

Vintage cast of 'The View': Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. (Heidi Gutman/AP)

"You ever feel like you're going to have a heart attack?" she asked the late night talk show host.

Behar detailed what happened next when Walters called her after getting wind of the big reveal.

"Hello Joy? It's Barbara," she described of the phone conversation with her then co-host. "I just got a call from 'Entertainment Tonight' to tell me that it's been announced that Rosie O'Donnell is coming on the show and guess who told them that news? I said 'Joy Behar?' She goes 'Yes! And I just want you to know I'm not renewing your contract.'"

The 83-year-old veteran broadcast journalist was livid that Behar ruined the surprise - and although the "Hall Pass" actress apologized profusely for her error admitting "it was a mistake," Walters didn't want to hear it.

Why was joy behar fired from the view

Joy Behar was almost fired from 'The View' for letting it slip that Rosie O'Donnell was going to make an appearance on the show — it was supposed to be a surprise, and Barbara Walters was not amused. (Donna Svennevik/ABC)

"It was a big mistake!" Walters reportedly said in response to Behar's apology. "I'm not renewing your contract!"

Behar obviously was able to finagle her way out of that situation and remain on the show for several more years but it certainly wasn't the only time she got into a sticky predicament.

From being offered an opportunity to pull on Donald Trump's hair to prove it was real after she called it a wig on-air, to saying "Uchitel she's a hooker," in reference to Tiger Woods ex Rachel Uchitel, Behar has had several run-ins after opening her mouth.

She even wrote a somewhat controversial song about the recent New York mayoral candidate Elliot Spitzer to the tune of "Gilligan's Island."

Behar sang: "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a man named Spitz. By day he was working hard for us, at night he was renting t--s."

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  1. Television
  2. Celebrity

Joy Behar was 'glad' to be fired from 'The View'

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Jul 27, 2022  •  July 27, 2022  •  1 minute read  •  23 Comments

Why was joy behar fired from the view
TV personality Joy Behar attends "The Revisionist" opening night at Cherry Lane Theatre on Feb. 28, 2013 in New York City. Photo by Andrew H. Walker /Getty Images

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Joy Behar says she was “glad” to have been fired from The View.

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The 79-year-old star served as an original panellist on the ABC daytime talk show when it launched back in 1997 but was let go in 2013 and – although she returned in 2015 – admitted that she was “sick” of being on the show at that point.

Why was joy behar fired from the view

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She told TIME Magazine: “I was glad to be fired. I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don’t even remember why.”

Meanwhile, the former Joy Behar: Say Anything! host was joined in the interview by her View co-star Sunny Hostin, who claimed that Joy “doesn’t remember” what happened that led to her firing but has been able to survive on the show for so long because of her blase nature.

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Sunny said: “She doesn’t hold a grudge. I think because she doesn’t remember what happened the day before. That’s how she’s been able to deal with this show. She just leaves it at the table and then moves on for another day.”

At the time of the initial firing, Joy alleged that it was “not her choice” to leave and claimed that “someone” on the production wanted her gone because of her political views,

She said: “Somebody wanted me gone. was not 100% my choice. When they told me they weren’t renewing, I said, ‘Good, I’m out of here.’ I didn’t like the way the show was going at that time. The way I heard it, and I don’t know what’s true because you never know, they got rid of a Republican, so they wanted to get rid of a Democrat. That’s not the first time I’ve been fired for my politics. So I wasn’t shocked at that analysis!”

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Why is Joy Behar away from The View?

Joy Behar was 'glad to be fired' from The View in 2013: 'I basically was sick of the show' "I'm sort of on extra time now. I don't have to work. I don't have to be on television," she later added of navigating her TV career.

Who was removed from The View?

Joey Behar recalled her 2013 firing from The View and said she was actually "glad" it happened. The 79-year-old comedian and co-panelist of ABC's long-running daytime talk show opened up about the experience in a new interview with Time magazine, and she was unapologetic about the ordeal.

What is the salary of Joy Behar?

One source close to production told The U.S. Sun that newcomers to the show likely make a fraction of what View veterans Joy Behar, 79, and Whoopi Goldberg, 66, are estimated to be bringing in. "Joy makes around $7 million a year, while Whoopi Goldberg makes an astonishing $8 million," the insider said.