Meghan McCain's fate on The View was sealed with nine words.
In an interview on The Commentary Magazine Podcast Aug. 4, the former co-host of the daytime chat show revealed what ultimately led to her exit from the show in July 2021.
McCain said it all went down after returning to the show after taking time off for maternity leave. She gave birth to daughter Liberty in Sept. 2020.
"I finally went back to the show," McCain said, "and the day I went back to the show, Joy Behar said on air, 'Nobody missed you, we didn't miss you, you shouldn't have come back.'"
Indeed, the verbal spat all went down live on the Jan. 5 episode of The View.
Behar's comment was made after McCain interrupted her during the Hot Topics segment, leading Behar to shout, ""I was speaking!"
McCain laughed and responded, "Joy, you missed me so much when I was on maternity leave. You missed me so much. You missed fighting with me. Don't act like you don't miss fighting with me."
McCain revealed to the podcast's hosts—John Podhoretz, Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman—that it all become too much to handle.
"I just—I started hysterically crying," she said. "Sorry gentlemen, I know, I started lactating on air, and I started crying."
In her 2022 book Bad Republican, McCain alleged a toxic work culture at The View didn't make her decision to leave any more difficult.
"Producers can't control hosts, manage conflict or control leaking," she wrote. "My take on the show is that working at The View brings out the worst in people. I believe that all the women and the staff are working under conditions where the culture is so f--ked up, it feels like quicksand."
The View, meanwhile, has moved on.
On Aug. 4, the show announced that Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro would join the iconic roundtable as permanent hosts, filling the void left by McCain's absence.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.