Joy Behar Seemingly Gives Carrie Underwood A Sly Middle Finger On The View After Inauguration Controversy

There's no denying that country music icon Carrie Underwood has experienced quite the fall from grace, with her January 2025 performance at President Donald Trump's inauguration being just one of the many scandals that led to her massive downfall from fame. She's still paying the price for it, as "The View" host Joy Behar temporarily left the program on March 24 as the "Before He Cheats" singer was set to be interviewed.

The ladies on "The View" have been vocal about what they really think about Underwood, and Behar's absence, along with fellow cohost Sara Haines, made that fact all the more clear. Underwood wasn't the only star being interviewed, as the "Hot Topics" table was a group interview with the country singer and her fellow "American Idol" judges, Lionel Ritchie, and Luke Bryan. Behar returned after the segment to close the show, and it was also announced that she'd serve as the guest on the show's podcast "Behind the Table" that day.

A source told Entertainment Weekly that Behar's nonattendance was a "production decision," as it's not uncommon for cohosts to leave the table to make room for guests. However, given Behar's previous statements about Underwood, it's hard to say that the choice wasn't an obvious case of mitigating drama. Behar had previously gotten into an on-air spat with cohost Whoopi Goldberg about the "Somethin' Bad" singer's decision to perform on Inauguration Day, and had also received harsh words from former cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck for her comments.

While a program like "The View" isn't necessarily the setting for intense political debate, cohost Joy Behar hasn't been shy about speaking out against President Donald Trump, his supporters, and anybody in his administration. From finding herself in hot water for comments about White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to dragging Melania Trump through the mud on-air, Behar's political beliefs are anything but subtle.

Her feud with country singer Carrie Underwood in January 2025 was also politically charged, as Behar pointed out: "She says, 'I love our country.' How do you love your country and support and normalize somebody who was a convicted felon who really wants to destroy the country, in my opinion? I don't understand how you say you love your country at the same time that you normalize this convicted felon" (via Hindustan Times). Even actress and cohost Whoopi Goldberg, a very public critic of Trump, had to take Underwood's side in the debate. While Behar's absence from "The View" during Underwood's segment could have been a matter of logistics, it's likely that the production team wanted to avoid a potential confrontation between the TV stars.

Behar has been the longest-running host on "The View," first appearing on the panel in 1997. There's no doubt the actress feels at home on that stage, and while her staunch political views undoubtedly bring a lot of controversial attention to the show, they're not the reason she's reportedly a total nightmare behind the scenes.