Joy Behar reveals why she got the boot from ‘Good Morning America’ years ago

“The View” co-host Joy Behar revealed on air Wednesday that she had been previously fired by “Good Morning America” for being the worst receptionist they reportedly ever had, making light of getting pink-slipped for incompetence as well as being hostile.

(Video Credit: The View)

“First of all, I’d like to say that when I was fired from ‘Good Morning America’ years ago,” Behar, 80, told guest Kumail Nanjiani, who feigned shock at the revelation.

“I was the worst receptionist they’ve ever had!” she laughingly insisted, prompting co-host Sara Haines to confirm it was a “true story.”

“So I was fired, and they took me to Chippendales as my goodbye present,” Behar continued, confessing to Nanjiani, who is starring in the Hulu miniseries, “Welcome to Chippendales,” that she thoroughly enjoyed the male striptease show, including “put[ting] the money in the guys’, you know, thingy.”

Nanjiani’s show is a biographical story based on the book “Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders” by K. Scot Macdonald.

“It’s fabulous!” she exclaimed with co-host Sunny Hostin agreeing and adding, “Chippendales is a fun place!”

“Anyway, so I’m familiar with Chippendales,” Behar smilingly informed Nanjiani, 44, who found her story amusing.

“So that was a good and bad day for you. You lost a job, but you gained so much more,” Nanjiani responded.

Behar agreed, laughing at the memory.

“The View” co-host opened up more about her time at “Good Morning America” in an interview with Good Housekeeping in 2018.

She became a secretary at the morning show while doing stand-up comedy on the side for a living. Behar had hoped to be discovered on the show but was fired in 1983.

The co-host unsurprisingly admitted that she was “one of their more hostile receptionists.”

She was 40 years old, unemployed, and a single mom at the time.

The failed comic got her big break nearly a decade and a half later when she filled in for Barbara Walters on “The View” two days a week.

Behar has been with The View since 1997, except for a couple of years after being fired in 2013.

“I was glad to be fired. I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason. I don’t even remember why,” she told Time in an interview in June.

Ramin Setoodeh, who wrote “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View,’” added insight into Behar’s firing at the time. He told the magazine that she offered to leave immediately, while Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was also fired that day, burst into tears.

Behar continued to guest co-host throughout 2014 and 2015 before coming back on the show in a permanent role.

Her caustic personality has not abated over the years and many truly abhor Behar. Even her fellow co-hosts reportedly tend to get fed up with her.

Behar rudely interrupted a somber Whoopi Goldberg by crunching on a TicTac as she commented about a mass shooting in Virginia, where a deranged gunman killed at least six people at a Walmart.

“Please do not forget those who are not going to be so fortunate and really try to be thankful because tomorrow’s never promised,” Whoopi began. “It’s a Thanksgiving show and we want to be up and rolling with it but it’s very hard to start these shows sometimes because of the thing…”

As Goldberg was speaking, she was interrupted by the sound of a loud crunch, which prompted her to turn to Behar and ask, “What are you eating?”

Behar was quick to dispute she was eating the Thanksgiving food laid out for the co-hosts.

“I wasn’t eating the food. It was a TicTac. That’s all,” she asserted, before apologizing and telling her co-hosts, “I’m sorry,” and told Goldberg, “You have supersonic hearing.”

Goldberg suggested even the studio audience could hear it, claiming, “They heard it over there!”

Co-host Sunny Hostin came to Behar’s defense and Goldberg replied, “You know she only hears what she wants to hear at the table.”

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles