The View is facing fresh tension behind the scenes.
Whoopi Goldberg’s short break from the ABC daytime talk show has reportedly sparked a quiet dispute over who should occupy the program’s most influential seat. According to sources, several of her co-hosts were frustrated when Joy Behar was immediately chosen to take over as moderator.
Goldberg, 70, revealed earlier this month that she would step away from the all-female panel for two weeks while filming an upcoming Netflix production.
Producers swiftly selected Behar, 83, to fill in for Goldberg and guide the show’s popular Hot Topics discussions during the temporary absence.
The choice allegedly disappointed fellow panelists Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin, insiders claimed.
“Every one of them wanted that chair,” one source said.
Joy Behar took over as moderator during Wednesday’s episode of The View while Whoopi Goldberg stepped away to film an upcoming Netflix project
Insiders said the decision to place Behar in Goldberg’s seat left Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin feeling frustrated
“It could have been an ideal chance to rotate the moderator position and find out who else could lead the table. Instead, producers went straight back to Joy,” the source added.
Although Behar is the longest-serving original co-host on The View, sources said the other panelists felt passed over when she was given the temporary assignment.
“What else do they need to prove?” another insider asked.
“They have all spent years contributing to that table, but when the top seat opened up, management apparently did not consider giving any of them the opportunity.”
Sources emphasized that the reported disappointment was not aimed personally at Behar.
“No one is trying to diminish Joy’s role—she has earned it,” one source said.
“But if ABC is unwilling to let anyone else lead for even two weeks, it raises an uncomfortable question: when will their opportunity come?”
Goldberg, who has moderated the long-running daytime program for almost 20 years, is currently filming Women Like Us, an upcoming Netflix movie produced by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
During a recent episode of The View’s Behind the Table podcast, Goldberg jokingly addressed her temporary exit by asking, “Is Joy up for it?”
“Joy’s up for it,” show producer Brian Teta replied. “She’s always excited to moderate.”
While Behar takes charge at the main table, several former co-hosts—including Lisa Ling, Star Jones, Sherri Shepherd and Debbie Matenopoulos—have been invited back to occupy Goldberg’s seat during the break.
The View recently began its 30th season, as the ABC panel show continues to draw attention not only for its on-air debates but also for persistent reports of backstage tension.
The co-hosts, too, haven’t shied away from clashing on air – either with each other or their high profile guests.
This milestone season has been no exception.
Sunny Hostin said this week on The View that she had been the holdout juror in a 1991 murder trial in New York City. But a report contradicted her account
Hostin has been embroiled in controversy this week after claiming on air Tuesday that she was the lone holdout juror who prevented the murder conviction of Daniel Rakowitz – the so-called Butcher of Tompkins Square Park – in 1991, two years after he was accused of killing his girlfriend and eating her in their apartment in New York City’s East Village.
He was instead found not guilty by reason of insanity.
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But on Wednesday it was revealed that, at the time, the New York Daily News reported the holdout juror was a man who, according to another juror, refused to convict Rakowitz because he wanted to keep collecting the $15-a-day jury payment.
Contrary to her account this week, the paper had also quoted Hostin under her given name, Asuncion Cummings, saying, ‘Yes, we believe [Rakowitz] did it. I believe he butchered the body and almost committed the perfect crime. He knew what he was doing.’
Meanwhile, co-host Haines stirred up outrage for criticizing Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of child-killer Lindsay Clancy.
Patrick divorced Lindsay after the 2023 killings and, after meeting fertility doctor Rachel Danis a year after his children’s death, married her in April. It was revealed last weekend, through a 60 Minutes interview, that the new couple are expecting their first child together.
‘What bothers me is that he talks about forgiving [Lindsay], which I love, but he focuses on that and never jumps to what so many people struggled with, how did the marital love end so quickly?’ Haines said on The View Tuesday.
She added that if she committed the same horrific act as Lindsay, ‘I would hope that my husband wouldn’t just move right along.’
The View co-host Sara Haines also stirred up controversy this week for her criticism of Patrick Clancy’s decision to divorce wife Lindsay Clancy after she killed their children, and to remarry
Back in March, Goldberg, who reportedly makes an estimated $8 million from the show each year, was forced to halt two heated exchanges during episode one as the panelists argued about the ramifications of ongoing military action in the Middle East.
‘This is a geopolitical move of brilliance. It will be painful in the short term. We will absolutely choke down China’s oil access from Iran. We’ve done it with Venezuela,’ Hasselbeck, a staunch conservative, had said at the end of a segment.
Her remarks hit a nerve with her mainly liberal co-hosts as they all scrambled to speak over the top of each other – prompting Goldberg to call for a quick ad break.
‘We’re going to go to break, so that I can stay on and keep everybody off my ass. We’ll be right back,’ she said, motioning to the off-camera crew.
Earlier in the show, Goldberg had wielded her moderating powers to go to a break when Hasselbeck and Hostin were on the cusp of a full-on spat.
Then, in one of the more bizarre interactions to make the air, Goldberg and Haines were caught on camera slapping each other as Justin Theroux and Kate Hudson appeared on the show in April.
The co-hosts got in roughly six slaps before Theroux remarked: ‘Why are we all hitting each other?’
A stone-faced Goldberg looked visibly annoyed by the strange ordeal.
And earlier this month, Behar and Hostin had on-air beef over artificial intelligence – proving no topic is off-limits for stoking controversy.
Behar took issue with Hostin for licensing her image to an AI studio, telling the lawyer and author that she was helping to put ‘real people’ out of jobs.
Goldberg, who reportedly makes an estimated $8million from the show each year, has been at the helm of the long-running talk show for nearly two decades. She is pictured during a September 7 episode
‘One of the other reasons why I partnered with this company is because I’ve written a trilogy and for six years I’ve tried to get my stories made into a series or films,’ Hostin vented.
‘The gatekeeping in Hollywood around black and brown creative content is insane. I cannot get New York Times bestselling books onto the screen to tell diverse stories to diverse communities.’
‘So what does that have to do with AI?’ Behar asked, adding, ‘So you’re a robot now?’
Sticking to her argument, Hostin responded: ‘I may appear but in all seriousness it’s a way to go to a streamer and say here’s the product, will you license it, will you show it? It’s a way, I think, to get black and brown stories told. There are a lot of hidden figures out there. Those stories are not being told.’
‘Those people are in fact robots. How does that help the black community? Because the real people are not working,’ Behar shot back.
A network source told the Daily mail: ‘Joy moderates the show on Fridays, on The Weekend View and when Whoopi is out. As soon as the show knew Whoopi would be out for her movie, they knew Joy would moderate. It was always the plan.’
