8 Times The View Pissed Off Viewers: Abortion, Gay Marriage, Bill Cosby and More

Long-running show has had a number of controversial moments: take a look back

By Alyssa Toomey Sep 16, 2015 9:15 PMTags
Whoopi Goldberg, The ViewABC

The View has landed itself in hot water. Again. 

The Internet is still buzzing over the controversial comments made on the ABC show on Tuesday about Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's nurse monologue at the Miss America pageant. 

While the co-hosts, specifically Michelle Collins and Joy Behar, apologized this morning, many are still upset about the headline-making remarks. 

But of course, this isn't the first time The View has stirred up controversy. Here are 8 more times The View pissed off viewers: 

WATCH: The View responds to #NursesUnite backlash

1. The View Debates Abortion: Sherri Shepherd, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck discussed President Barack Obama's 2009 commencement speech at Notre Dame University, where there were a number of anti-abortion protesters, prompting controversial comments about the heated topic.

"You know what bugs me about the movement? They call it pro-life or pro-choice. They should really call it pro-choice and anti-choice because that's what it's really about. It's very much an insult to me as someone who values life to say 'I'm not pro-life,'" Behar said to which Hasselbeck replied, "Then call yourself something different then."

2. The View Argues Over Same-Sex Marriage: Back in 2008, the panelists, including Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar, took on the topic of gay marriage and Proposition 8. 

"Elisabeth, it's not just about the word [marriage]," Behar insisted. "The word marriage is really not the issue. It's the rights."

"Yes, they should fight for the rights, they should have equal protection under the law but to call it marriage…" Hasselbeck replied.

"Again, why do you care what I call my relationship?" Goldberg countered.

"Because it defines mine as well," Hasselback insisted as the ladies shouted over each other. 

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3. Whoopi Goldberg Stands By Bill Cosby: Goldberg made numerous headlines for continuing to defend Bill Cosby amid the ongoing sexual assault allegations, and the hosts repeatedly butted heads as they debated the celebrity scandal. After repeatedly speaking out against racing to convict the comedian in the media, she changed her tune when an unearthed deposition in a civil suit from 2005 showed that Cosby admitted to acquiring drugs to give to women he wanted to have sex with.

"You got a serial rapist, he's been on the streets for 30 years," Goldberg said when The View brought ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams on the show. "I have to say I thought that yeah, here's all the information, take his ass to jail. I find out from you that that's not possible. So I can't say any more 'innocent until proven guilty' because there's no way to prove it. We are the only proof that folks have. We're the only backup they have."

4. Elisabeth Hasselbeck Offends Erin Andrews: Back in 2012, Hasslebeck commented on Andrews' skimpy DWTS wardrobe, calling it poor taste for a victim of a Peeping Tom to wear such scandalous attire.

"In the past three weeks she's been wearing next to nothing," Hasselbeck said. "I mean, in some way if I'm [the stalker], I'm like, ‘Man! I just could've waited 12 weeks and seen this—a little bit less, without the prison time!'" The next day, Hasslebeck gave a teary-eyed apology for her remarks. 

Ron Galella/WireImage; John Shearer/WireImage

5. Star Jones Lies About Weight Loss Surgery: As viewers watched the controversial co-host seemingly shrink on their screens, many wondered how Jones dropped over 100 pounds. While she failed to address her weight loss on The View, she later revealed she underwent gastric bypass surgery, causing many of her fans to lose trust in the television personality. 

"She decided to have a gastric bypass operation, but then she decided not to tell anybody," Barbara Walters later told Oprah Winfrey. "Then, we had to lie on the set every day because she said it was portion control and Pilates. Well, we knew it wasn't portion control and Pilates."

ABC

6. Barbara Walters Stands By Woody Allen: The legendary journalist defended the filmmaker in 2012 after his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow alleged that Allen sexually assaulted her as a child.

"I have rarely seen a father as sensitive, as loving and as caring as Woody is and [his wife] Soon-Yi to these two girls [their daughters together]. I don't know about Dylan. I can only tell you what I have seen now," Walters said. 

"Barbara, when you say, 'I'm speaking from what I've seen,' there are so many things that go on behind closed doors...You've also got a man who's got a track record. He liked younger women. So it's not that far off," Shepherd countered, to which Walters retorted, "The fact that he likes 'younger women,' that has nothing to do with [it]."

7. Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck Debate the Use of the N-Word: Goldberg and Hasselbeck went head to head back in 2008 after Goldberg argued that there is a place for the controversial word in the African-American community. 

"It's not a word that should be used," Hasselbeck said to which Shepherd replied, "Don't tell me I can't use that word."

"This is a word that has meaning when you give it meaning," Goldberg said.

"We don't live in different worlds," Hasselbeck insisted. 

"We do live in different worlds, I'm sorry," Goldberg replied before Hasselbeck began crying on live television.

ABC/Lou Rocco

8. Jenny McCarthy Joins The ViewControversy erupted when Jenny McCarthy joined The View in September 2013 due to her controversial stance on vaccines (McCarthy's son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism in 2005 and she has spoken at length about what she believes is a link between the behavioral disorder and vaccinations given to children). 

"Jenny McCarthy's unfounded claims about the dangers of vaccines has been one of the greatest impediments to efforts to vaccinate children in recent decades," Amy Pisani, executive director of Every Child By Two, a non-profit vaccination advocacy organization, told USA Today in protest of her hiring. "Children have died due to this misinformation, and those who perpetuate lies for personal gain ought to be held responsible."