The View's Joy Behar Is Reportedly A Total Nightmare Behind The Scenes

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Talk show legend Joy Behar's unrestrained takes on pop culture and politics are exactly why millions tune into "The View." It's like a highly opinionated Knights of the Round Table, except Behar isn't wielding a sword; her words are sharp enough. She wasn't afraid to throw digs at Melania Trump, or reveal co-host Sara Haines' undisclosed same sex relationship on live TV (in front of Haines' conservative parents, no less). Suffice it to say, we wouldn't be surprised if Behar has many adversaries. And even less shocking, she's seemingly not a peach when the cameras are off.

Fox News contributor Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (known professionally as "Kennedy") chronicled her brief time on "The View" for the Daily Mail in July 2025, revealing how appalling Behar's off-air behavior really is. Kennedy referred to Behar as a "ghoul" after auditioning for a spot on the talk show in 2003. The daytime TV veteran reportedly was very curt toward Kennedy. "In the makeup room, I was attempting to make small talk with her about stand-up comics whom we both knew when she snapped, 'We could play the 'who-do-we-know game' all day. I'm not interested,'" the author and podcast host wrote. That wasn't the last time Behar's claws came out while Kennedy was in the studio. After the audience heard a few humorous comments from Kennedy, Behar, during a commercial break, "whipped around and spat, 'Leave the jokes to me, got it?'"

Joy Behar doesn't just show her teeth to "The View" fledglings; her longtime co-hosts seemingly got the brunt of her verbal attacks. When former co-anchor Lisa Ling, who held her seat from 1999 to 2002, came back as a guest on the show in 2022, she had a sour moment with Behar. Sitting down with Jimmy Kimmel, Ling recalled what Behar said to her after getting into it with "The View" ladies about the now-infamous incident between Joe Biden and Peter Doocy. "During a commercial break, Joy did tell me that I was talking too much," said Ling, who also noted that "I'm so glad I don't do [the show] every day."

Meghan McCain probably has a similar appreciation for her time not spent hosting the talk show. In 2021, McCain abruptly left "The View," despite having two years left on her contract. She detailed the contentious relationship between herself and Behar that prompted her to quit in her 2022 memoir "Bad Republican." "I was the target of plenty of shade... and then I also experienced more toxic, direct and purposeful hostility," she wrote (via Variety). The political pundit specifically cited the moment Behar brutally confessed she didn't miss McCain during her maternity leave as the deciding factor in her resignation. "When we broke for commercial, I burst into tears," McCain wrote. "Not just like tearing up, uncontrollable sobbing."