After 30 Years, The View’s’ Most Controversial Moments
As “The View” kicks off its 30th anniversary celebration this month, we thought it’d be fun to take a look back on some of the more controversial moments the show has given us over the years. From co-host quarrels to grappling with certain guest stars, the popular daytime talk show has been a hotbed for hot topics that get folks all over the country talking, debating, disagreeing, communing, and more.
But because we know some of the spicier moments live rent-free in your minds (as they do ours), keep reading for our pick of some of the most controversial moments on “The View” over the last three decades!
Whoopi Goldberg, Race and the Holocaust
One of the more recent incidents happened in February 2022 after longtime co-host Whoopi Goldberg argued that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. Her comments came during a discussion about the book, “Maus,” by Art Spiegelman—whose family was deeply impacted by atrocities from that terrible event—which was then being banned from a Tennessee school.
“The Holocaust isn’t about race. It was about man’s inhumanity to man. That’s what it was about,” she said at the time.
Later, she appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where she appeared to double down on her comments in an effort to clarify her original intent. However, her words still didn’t land well for viewers and sparked significant backlash online. This led her to issue a public apology and led ABC President Kim Godwin to temporarily suspend her from the show for two weeks.
Related: Whoopi Goldberg Calls Out Barack Obama on The View
Star Jones’ Bombshell, On-Air Exit
One of the show’s most shocking moments, no doubt, happened in 2006 when Star Jones (one of the original co-hosts since the show’s inception in 1997) announced live, on-air, that she would be leaving the show—much to the surprise and chagrin of some of her co-hosts. The announcement caught everyone off-guard publicly, but behind the scenes Jones had known for months that ABC had decided not to renew her contract, according to reports at the time.
In fact, her departure had already been rumored after ABC announced that Rosie O’Donnell would be joining the panel to replace Meredith Vieira, but Jones apparently wasn’t going to wait around for the network to make the announcement on its own terms. Jones’ decision consequently led to there being competing narratives about what exactly transpired and led up to her leaving. While she felt like she was being fired, co-host Barbara Walters later shared in the press that she felt blindsided and “betrayed” by Jones’ actions since the show’s producers weren’t yet ready to announce her departure.
However, if we’re keeping it real and as fans will remember, Jones received plenty of criticism in the years leading up to her leaving the show, due in large part to her high-profile wedding in 2004, her dramatic weight loss(that was caused by gastric bypass surgery and not “portion control and Pilates”), and the perception that her personal life had become a bigger part of her “The View” storyline.
Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck Have It Out Over the Iraq War
In May 2007, new co-host Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had an unforgettable verbal clash during a discussion about the Iraq War that resulted in a literal shouting match over a split screen. Specifically, the two disagreed on whether O’Donnell’s previous comments about the Iraq War and the deaths of Iraqi civilians had implied that U.S. troops were terrorists—and whether Hasselbeck had adequately defended her against the conservative pundits who said she had.
At the time, O’Donnell repeatedly pressed Hasselbeck to say whether she believed O’Donnell thought the troops were terrorists, while Hasselbeck insisted that O’Donnell should defend her own comments. Things then escalated after the comedian called Hasselbeck “cowardly” for not answering her directly. Naturally, Hasselbeck fired back, which led to an argument that went on for more than five minutes. Thankfully, after witnessing enough, co-host Joy Behar and guest co-host Sherri Shepherd applied comic relief to ease tensions.
“This was kind of personal, this conversation,” co-host Joy Behar later told ABC News in the aftermath. “It became a big argument on the air, and then there was a split screen.”
Joy Behar and RuPaul Clash Over Fashion
While not as heated, Joy Behar and famed drag queen and TV host RuPaul’s clash over the former’s fashion sense (or lack thereof) still lives in our minds due to how unapologetically shady he was. Though it would seem as if someone’s opinion on what another person wears wouldn’t ruffle too many feathers, it was immediately clear from Behar’s response (“why would I take fashion advice from a drag queen?”) that the criticism struck a nerve, hence the tense moment we all bore witness to.
Pre-President Donald J. Trump and His Obsession With Obama’s Birth Certificate
Way before he became president, Donald J. Trump caused a ruckus after appearing in 2011 and bringing his birther crusade straight to the Hot Topics table. At the time, Trump publicly questioned whether then-President Barack Obama was actually born in the United States. During the talk, Walters pressed him on why he was so fixated on Obama’s birthplace, while Goldberg wasn’t exactly buying what he was selling either. As you might expect, Trump only doubled down, claiming Obama should release his birth certificate and suggesting there was something on it he didn’t want people to see. And yes, this was all happening on daytime television.
Whoopi and Joy Leave Bill O’Reilly Where He’s At…Literally
In October 2010, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly caused an unfortunately memorable scene after he criticized then-President Obama for his stance on Park51, a Muslim community center that was to set to be built near Ground Zero in Manhattan.
After already speaking disrespectfully to Behar and getting into a heated debate with Goldberg, the moment was intensified after O’Reilly claimed that “Muslims killed us on 9/11.” This led to Goldberg further engaging in a back-and-forth with him and eventually, her and Behar leaving the set and the conversation entirely.
Raven Symoné and the “Watermelondrea” Comment
In October 2015, Symoné garnered considerable controversy after airing her opinion during a segment revolving around a study on racial bias and “Black-sounding” names. Specifically, she said that she wouldn’t hire anyone with a “ghetto” name or if their name was “Watermelondrea,” citing social media comedian Tré Melvin’s famous online persona. As a result, Goldberg and Behar looked appalled at the time, and the audience barely reacted. Naturally, after the clip began making the rounds on social media, the “That’s So Raven” star eventually issued an apology.
“I was not attacking a specific race, but repeating a name that was said in a viral video which has received over 2 million likes,” she said in part.
She later added: “We would hope that when it comes to hiring, our names, physical appearance, sexual orientation, and age would never outweigh our qualifications, but oftentimes, they do; that’s the truth and it sucks. But I should not be part of the problem; I should be part of the solution.”
Sadly, this would only be just one of the many times the former Disney Channel star would put her foot in her mouth during her tenure on the show.
