Why Joy Behar "Was Glad to Be Fired" From The View in 2013

When Joy Behar was fired from The View in 2013, it came as a shock to viewers. However, Behar says it couldn't have come at a better time. See what she said now about how it all went down.

By Daniel Trainor Jul 27, 2022 9:10 PMTags

Joy Behar took her firing from The View in stride—in fact, she can't even remember what happened. 

After holding her seat on the daytime talk show since its inception in 1997, Behar was unceremoniously axed in 2013, but she wasn't complaining. 

"I was glad to be fired," she told TIME on July 27. "I was basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don't even remember why."

In fact, in Ramin Setoodeh's 2019 book Ladies Who Punch, a tell-all about behind-the scenes drama at The View, Behar told the author, "I had been planning to get out of there" and noted that she was "just bored."

However, when the show's ratings started to drop in her absence, former The View executive producer Hilary Estey McLoughlin knew exactly what she needed to do.

"I just knew that we needed to get back into the cultural conversation," she revealed. "I knew [Behar] was going to be the person who could actually do that. She's always been the person who says what the audience is thinking but is afraid to say." 

Behar eventually returned to the show in 2015, where she's remained ever since.

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For the show's 29th season in the fall, Behar and co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines will reportedly be joined by former Donald Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin at the desk. Griffin will serve as a permanent replacement for Meghan McCain, who left the show in July 2021.

After 25 years on TV, the 79-year-old Behar is just enjoying the ride. 

"I'm sort of on extra time now. I don't have to work. I don't have to be on television," she said. "I don't have to have the microphone. They want to give it to me, I'll take it." 

Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images

With that being said, anybody hoping for her imminent demise should prepare to be disappointed. Behar signed a new three-year deal with The View in May.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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