The View Co-Hosts Show Remorse Over Kate Middleton Comments (Take Notes, Colbert)
While some arguments on "The View" go way too far and the co-hosts have had plenty of controversial moments over the years, sometimes they unite on something. On March 25, the show started with co-hosts Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin sharing their regrets over talking on air about the conspiracies swirling around Catherine, Princess of Wales. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg had refused to discuss the topic when it came up the week before.
Their mea culpas came after Kate's speech announcing her cancer diagnosis on March 22. The women expressed regret over going "down the rabbit hole" of speculation about Kate, as seen on the official YouTube channel for "The View." They confirmed how bad they felt about it all and how they should have listened to Goldberg, who'd told them not to speculate about the royal family's private business.
This seems to stand in contrast to Stephen Colbert's comments on "The Late Show" about Kate after she revealed she had cancer. He talked about the jokes he'd made about Kate's disappearance from the public eye, saying, "[The jokes] upset some people, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that," per CBS News. He stopped short of apologizing, though he did wish for Kate's quick return to health.
Stephen Colbert didn't ever specifically say he was sorry
For some, Stephen Colbert's response to having joked about Catherine, Princess of Wales while she had cancer wasn't enough without a direct apology. One person on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote, "This is misleading rambling, NOT an apology of any kind." They weren't alone. Another posted, "His jokes weren't really jokes. He was on the bully bandwagon. He should have said I will try to be a better person and I apologize. Never watching him again."
A Colbert apology might still be forthcoming, but perhaps it will be to Rose Hanbury. Hanbury — specifically a rumored affair between her and William, Prince of Wales — came up during Colbert's jokes about Kate's disappearance. In a sign that Hanbury wouldn't take the William affair rumors laying down, her lawyers sent Colbert a legal notice insisting that no affair had ever taken place. Whether it was Hanbury that Colbert was referring to when he said his jokes had "upset some people," we don't know.
Colbert and the co-hosts of "The View" were just a few of the celebrities who weighed in on the conspiracy theories about Kate over the past few weeks, and others have joined them in issuing responses after Kate's cancer diagnosis was confirmed. Blake Lively, who'd made a joke about photoshopping in reference to Kate's photoshopped Mother's Day family photo, posted an apology on Instagram Stories, as reported by People.