Barbara Walters: Joy Behar is leaving and Elisabeth Hasselback is not
Originally posted on March 11, 2013
Personnel changes on the show itself was the hot topic on "The View" today.
Last Thursday, Joy Behar announced she will not renew her contract with "The View" for the next season. But, she will remain on the show until August, the conclusion of the current season. According to US Weekly she is leaving after 16 and a half years because she says that amount of time is long enough to be on a talk show. The 70-year-old veteran co-host is the last original cast member along with its co-creator and Executive Producer, Barbara Walters. Behar also hosts her own show, "Say Anything," on Current TV.
On "The View" today the comedian rattled off the top ten reasons she is departing, all of them riddled with her sarcastic brand of humor. The number one reason she gave for not returning to the show is that she wants to go a "whole week without putting on a brassiere."
TOP TEN REASONS JOY BEHAR IS LEAVING THE VIEW:
10: "ABC won't let me drink on the air like Hoda and Kathy Lee."
9: "The glare from Bill Geddie's head is giving me migraines."
8: "I have a pathological fear of catching childhood diseases like mumps from Barbara."
No. 7: "Steve (her husband) keeps pressuring me to have a five-way."
No. 6. "The contact high from sitting next to Whoopi keeps giving me the munchies."
No. 5. "I find the constant echo coming from Sherri's cleavage distracting."
4. "My flings with Wolf Blitzer and Regis make a lot of demands on my time."
3. "I'm busy producing a new show for Al Jazeera, 'The Real Housewives of Fallujah County.' "
2. "Like Barbara, I'm developing an unhealthy attraction to Elisabeth."
1. "I finally will have a chance to fulfill my dreams. Going a whole week without putting on a brassiere."
"It is bittersweet" said Walters about Behar's plans to leave.
Hours after word came that Behar would be leaving, a rumor surfaced that co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck would be ousted from the show because viewers were tired of her extremely conservative views.
"There’s a particularly false story that keeps getting picked up about Elisabeth’s alleged departure saying we don’t approve of her conservative views," Walters said. The truth is... we value and appreciate her point of view."
Walters said she likes Elisabeth and her point of view "gives the show to the show depth and balance." We have no plans for Elisabeth to leave the show."
The Daily News is reporting that Barbara Walters, 83, will step down by the end of the year. Walters has been frequently absent due to her health. Most recently she was away because she had Chicken Pox. In 2010, the iconic broadcaster had heart valve replacement surgery.
