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The current panel on ABC’s daytime talk show The View has established a bond with each other despite their trademark sparring over hot topics. The team of Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Meghan McCain, and Abby Huntsman has proven to be a ratings draw, especially with an upcoming presidential election around the corner.

Behar has been at the table since the show’s launch in 1997, outside of taking a break for Seasons 17 and 18. One of her original co-hosts had a few things to say about Behar and her feelings toward the rest of the OG panel.

“The View’s” Joy Behar | Lou Rocco/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Behar’s big break

The show’s pioneering panel consisted of Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar, and Debbie Matenopoulos. Show creator Barbara Walters also appeared on the show on a part-time basis. Walters hired Behar for The View to cover for her when she took days off and to bring her sharp wit to the table.  “She’s funny, intelligent and well-informed,” Walters said, according to People. “I chose Joy because we wanted the show to be entertaining.” 

Behar, who was a stand-up comic at the time, saw Walters’ offer as too good to pass up. “It was nice to have a couple days off,” she said, as reported by Time. “My agent at the time told me not to do it. The money wasn’t enough. But I wanted to do it because it was in New York and right near my house.” Walters instincts were right – Behar was a hit, with USA today comparing her to the great comedian Erma Bombeck.

The stand-up comic was so beloved by viewers, she actually scored higher than Walters. “The show with Joy tested better than the one with Barbara,” Patricia Fili-Krushel, ABC President at the time, revealed. The higher-ups didn’t want Walters to know the test results. “I said to [executive producer] Bill [Geddie], ‘We have to edit this report!’”

A legal view

Walters also brought on Star Jones, a prominent lawyer who was making a name for herself in television. Jones rose through the ranks with her coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and had tried for her own NBC talk show, but network execs passed on the idea, according to Time. “I thought to myself, ‘I am at a crossroads,’” Jones recalled. “What do I do? And the phone rang.” 

Yet Jones’ interview process showed a side to her that put some people off. “She was considered difficult, a problem person,” Executive Producer Bill Geddi revealed. Despite the warnings, Jones was hired. “I always said the same thing: everybody is difficult, and everybody could be terrible,” Geddie said. 

She said, she said

After nine years, Jones exited the show in a controversial fashion. In 2006, Jones announced on the air that she would be leaving The View, taking her co-hosts and Walters by surprise. “Something has been on my heart for a little bit,” Jones said during the broadcast, according to The New York Times. “After much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season, and I will not be returning as co-host next year.”

Jones visited Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in 2017 when she was promoting her VH1 talk show parody Daytime Divas, and talked about her time on the The View. She made a comment about her former co-host Behar that was a bit dubious.

“She loves us, but she doesn’t like us,” Jones told Cohen of Behar, though she later seemed to walk back the statement. “In all honesty, all of my co-hosts were very prepared… I worked with some of the very best people there are in television… So I would look like an idiot to say something mean about those girls, and I never would.”

Behar didn’t take too kindly to Jones’ remarks on her alleged feelings toward her co-hosts. “How does she know that?” Behar replied to Cohen when he brought up the topic of Jones’ comments. “That’s completely ridiculous! No, that’s not true — she’s jealous because I was really attached to [former co-host] Meredith [Vieira], that’s all.”

The statements from Jones clearly bothered Behar, who insisted they were false claims. “I don’t know but I was friendly with everybody. I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Behar said. “I don’t like any of my co-hosts, that’s what she said? What type of fake news is this?”

The back-and-forth on the topic was never officially resolved, though neither party seems to be losing any sleep over the dispute. While Jones hasn’t been seen much on the airwaves, Behar is still going strong every weekday morning on The View.

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