Joy Behar is opening up about her rollercoaster relationship with late broadcast legend Barbara Walters, including the times she got fired twice. The longtime “The View” co-host spoke exclusively to Page Six at the Tribeca Festival premiere afterparty for the new documentary “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” where she revealed she didn’t always stay on Walters’ good side.
“She fired me a couple of times,” Behar admitted with a laugh. “I spilled the beans that Rosie [O’Donnell] was coming on the show.” According to Behar, Walters had planned to unveil Rosie O’Donnell’s casting on “The View” during the Emmys, instructing the co-hosts to keep the news under wraps. But Behar let it slip to Entertainment Tonight, a move that didn’t sit well with the famously meticulous Walters. “She was furious that I would have such a big mouth,” Behar said, but noted Walters re-hired her the very same day.
Joy Behar Says She Has ‘No Idea’ Why She Was Fired From ‘The View’ a Second Time
As for the second firing? Behar confessed, “I have no idea what that was about.” Behar, who’s been a staple on “The View” since its 1997 debut, took a short break from the show in 2013 before returning full-time in 2015. Despite their ups and downs, she looks back fondly on her relationship with Walters, who created “The View” and passed away in December 2022 at age 93. “She could be a very generous boss,” Behar shared. “I was invited to her dinner parties. I would never have met people like Henry Kissinger or Michael Bloomberg otherwise.”
Describing the exclusive gatherings, Behar said Walters ran them like diplomatic summits. “She would go around the table and everybody had to speak,” she recalled. “[She would ask], ‘Who do you think would be the best vice president?’ She sort of conducted the dinners like she was at the United Nations.”
Naturally, fans couldn’t hold back their opinions in the comments section of Page Six‘s report, with one individual calling Walters a “class act.” “How she ever chose Behar to be part of ‘The View’ is a mystery. Behar should have been kicked off the show years ago. Better yet, ‘The View’ is a major virus on the airways, time to shut it down.” However, someone else argued, “Barbara Walters, class act? I don’t think so. She had an affair with Senator Edward Brooke in the 70s.”
Behar was joined at the documentary screening by her View co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro. “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything” premieres June 23 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
