Joy Behar has denied speculation that she is retiring from The View when her contract ends in 2022, insisting that she is ‘not leaving.’
The 77-year-old’s co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked her to address a Variety report about her alleged departure on Thursday morning’s show, prompting her to let out a laugh.
‘They’re always talking about me leaving the show,’ Behar said. ‘But I’m not leaving the show. Let me say the rumors of my retirement have been greatly exaggerated.’
Not happening: Joy Behar denied a report that she is retiring from The View, insisting on Thursday morning’s show that she’s ‘not leaving’
Denial: The 77-year-old told her co-stars Whoopi Goldberg, Meghan McCain, and Sunny Hostin that the rumors of her retirement ‘have been greatly exaggerated’
She noted that the coronavirus pandemic has derailed any lofty retirement plans she might have had in the future.
‘You know, here’s the thing, what am I going to do?’ she said. ‘This pandemic has changed the game. At one point you think, “Gee, I could retire and take a cruise around the world.”
‘I won’t even watch reruns of Love Boat at this point. So, where am I gonna go? What will I do? I need to be on television.’
Behar went on to joke that she provides ’employment for right-wing media.’
‘I mean I’m a job creator over at Breitbart,’ she said. ‘Everything I say appears on Breitbart. I don’t see how I could leave.’
Hitting back: ‘Where am I gonna go? What will I do? I need to be on television,’ Behar said
Not having it: Goldberg said it would be a big deal for her if Behar left the show, and McCain agreed, saying they won’t let her leave
Behar and her co-hosts — Goldberg, Meghan McCain, and Sunny Hostin — filmed the show via satellite from their respective homes.
Goldberg said it would be a big deal for her if Behar left the show, and McCain agreed, recalling how she immediately called her co-star after reading the report.
‘You’re not leaving. It’s not an option. None of us are going to allow you to go,’ McCain told Behar.
On Wednesday, Variety published a report saying Behar plans to leave The View when her contract is up in the summer of 2022.
The outlet stated she had revealed her upcoming departure in a new interview for the paperback edition of journalist Ramin Setoodeh’s book The Explosive Inside Story of The View.
‘I have a three-year contract,’ she is quoted as saying in the book. ‘But that doesn’t mean I can’t leave if I want to, because they can’t really do anything to me at this point. I don’t see myself staying for more [time]. That’s it!
Response: The co-host referred to a Variety report that stated she plans to leave the ABC daytime talk show when her contract is up in the summer of 2022
Claim: Behar referenced the quotes on Thursday’s show, saying she told the reporter: ‘If I’m as fabulous in 2022 as I am now, I’ll probably be here’
‘I could be wrong. If I’m as fabulous in [2022] as I am now, I’ll think about. But the chances of that happening… You know, time marches on. I’m not a kid.’
Behar referenced a quote from the interview on Thursday’s show, saying she told the reporter: ‘If I’m as fabulous in 2022 as I am now, I’ll probably be here.’
‘You just don’t know,’ she stressed. ‘No one knows what they are going to do in the next two years. Look at what just happened to all of us in this world. We never predicted this. You can’t predict anything.
‘But as of now, as of today the answer is no. I’m going nowhere.’
An ABC spokesman has also denied that Behar is leaving the show.
‘This is not true,’ the rep stated. ‘Joy was asked what happens at the end of her contract and as she herself made clear in the interview, if she’s “as fabulous in [2022] as I am now,” she will be in her seat at the table.’
Looking back: Behar, a vocal Democrat, was one of the original co-hosts when the talk show premiered in August 1997. She has been on the show longer than any other co-host
Are we clear? ‘You can’t predict anything,’ Behar said. ‘But as of now, as of today the answer is no. I’m going nowhere’
Behar, a vocal Democrat, has been on The View for 21 seasons — longer than any other co-host, including the show’s creator Barbara Walters, who departed in 2014 at the age of 84.
She was one of the original co-hosts when the talk show premiered in August 1997. In addition to Walters, she sat at the iconic table with Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, and Debbie Matenopoulos, all of whom have moved on from the show.
Behar was fired in 2013 when ABC network executives attempted to make The View less political but continued to make guest appearances.
The Great Gasbag: An A–Z Study Guide to Surviving Trump World author returned to the show full-time two years later and has been a co-host ever since.
Behar announced on March 13 that she was taking a leave from The View as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying: I’m in a higher risk group because of my age, but I’m perfectly healthy.’
After her co-hosts started working remotely, she returned to the show via satellite while self-isolating in her Hamptons home.