The View tapes in New York, and on Wednesday morning its longest-serving co-host gave a married guest a welcome he did not see coming.
Anson Mount, 53, was walking out to the Hot Topics table to promote the fourth season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds when the greeting line went off the rails. He gave Whoopi Goldberg a peck on the cheek and greeted Sara Haines. Then he reached Joy Behar.
The 83-year-old comedian embraced him, kissed his cheek, and then pulled him in for a long kiss on the lips. Haines rose to her feet. Alyssa Farah Griffin covered her face with both hands. Sunny Hostin pointed at the whole thing and then handed Mount a tissue, because Behar’s lipstick was now on his mouth.
Behar was unbothered. “I’m old, but I’m not dead,” she said, to cheers from the audience.
Mount, who is married to photographer Darah Trang, fired back without missing a beat: “That’s it, Joy, because I am.” Behar playfully shoved him.
Goldberg tried to steer the show back toward the actual interview and got about four words in. “This year marks the… are you okay?” she asked. Behar answered that she needed “a little bit of a touch-up,” then explained the history. “Last time he was here, he brought me flowers for my birthday, and it’s never been the same between us.“
“I got married, so…” Mount offered. “That’s what I mean!” Behar shot back.
Hours later, Behar joined executive producer Brian Teta on the show’s Behind the Table podcast and confirmed the moment had been building all morning backstage, where the jokes had centered on the actor’s surname. Teta put it plainly, saying there had been “a lot of talk of mounting” before the interview.
The Internet Was Not Laughing
The clip spread fast, and the argument underneath it got loud.
“That is completely inappropriate,” one wrote under Mount’s own post. “Terrible example to women. I’m so sorry that happened to you and to your wife.” Another flipped the scenario: “People keep asking what would happen if it were a male TV host. I’m thinking you’d have probably fought him off a bit harder.” A third asked directly, “Did you consent?“
On X, one viewer suggested the moment belonged in a different kind of meeting entirely: “Hope HR department has a talk with her on workplace behaviour.” Another kept it brief: “This crossed a line. Appalling behavior.“
Plenty of others just enjoyed it. “Hope he got paid properly for that acting,” one joked.
Mount answered the whole thing himself later the same day. Asked about the kiss by TV Insider, he laughed it off entirely.
“I asked my wife to promise me she wouldn’t divorce me,” he said. “She thought it was hilarious.“
Strange New Worlds returned Thursday on Paramount+. Somehow, that is the second most talked about thing Anson Mount did this week.
