She's Outta Here! Joy Behar on Her Exit From The View

So what! Who cares? We do! On Friday, Aug. 9, funny lady Joy Behar checks out of ABC's The Viewafter 16 seasons of fabulous sass and unapologetically leftist commentary. TV Guide Magazine just had to sit her down for one last blabathon!
TV Guide Magazine: It's been quite a while since your departure from The View was announced. Can you remind us why you're doing this? Because it really sucks.
Behar: I need a different kind of life. I have so many other things to do! I want to write, do standup, maybe do Broadway, do acting roles, and live my life without this daily regimen. I'm done! It's scary that 16 years have passed. How the hell did this happen?
TV Guide Magazine: Let's talk about some of the highlights of your run — most of them notorious. You walking out on Bill O'Reilly. Let's start there.
Behar: [Laughs] That was a good one! And I have no regrets about it. Friends of mine said, "You should have just sat there and battled it out with him!" But anyone who lumps all Muslims together, like he did, or all Jews, or all blacks, or whatever, there's nothing really to say except, "You're an idiot!" So, instead of saying that to him I walked off, and Whoopi did, too. It was so weird. My body just got off that chair all by itself. That's never happened before or since and, trust me, a lot of people spew bulls--t on The View! Meanwhile, O'Reilly loved it, of course.
TV Guide Magazine: The Rosie O'Donnell-Elisabeth Hasselbeck explosion?
Behar: I was right in the middle of that one and it was brutal sitting in the crosshairs. It was so acrimonious, so contentious. But somebody in the booth sure liked it because they would not go to a commercial! I was, like, "What the hell is this — PBS?" Sherri Shepherd wasn't one of the cohosts yet but she just happened to be a guest on the show that particular day and she and I still talk about. It got The View a lot of attention. We've had a lot of damn drama on this show and I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it. But not the Rosie-Elisabeth thing. You know what I like remembering? When I announced the birth of my grandson. Luca. I loved becoming a grandma. That was a nice day. And then there was the day I revealed that I'd finally gotten married to Steve. But, other than that, I never talked about my private stuff.
TV Guide Magazine: Which is why your book is the one we really want to read! You know where all the bodies are buried at The View.
Behar: [Laughs] Yes, I know the book you want me to write but I'm never gonna write it! I can't write that book. You know that! I can't reveal all the nasty s--t that goes on! Remember Julia Phillips who wrote, You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again? Well, she died right after that book came out. [Laughs] I don't want that happening to me!
TV Guide Magazine: How about the time you busted John McCain during the 2008 presidential race?
Behar: He was running an attack ad against Obama that was an outright lie and when he came on our show I called him on it. I said, "Why would you approve that ad? You know it's a lie!" His wife, Cindy, claimed we picked their bones clean. Frank Rich wrote in The New York Timesthat I was the new Edward R. Murrow because I was the only one who had the nerve to use the 'L' word. But how can you not? When I told Ron Paul that he wasn't going to win, or even get the nomination, he was startled, but wasn't it the truth? He didn't have a prayer. But that's not why candidates for the presidency come on a TV show. They don't wanna hear that --t. Then there was the time I asked Obama if he'd read 50 Shades of Grey. But he was cool about it, probably because he had no idea what the f--k I was talking about. I mean, can you imagine asking President Franklin D. Roosevelt if he's read Lady Chatterley's Lover? But, then, Roosevelt was shtupping his secretary, so he probably did read it.
TV Guide Magazine: Are you sorry you never got the chance to tangle with George Dubya?
Behar: Not at all. I never wanted to meet President Bush because I didn't like his policies, particularly those involving the Iraq War. [Laughs] I didn't want to meet him and have him turn out to be an affable guy, because then I couldn't be mean to him in my standup routine. I was afraid I'd want to have a beer with him and that would kill my act! It's like the time I went to France and everybody was nice. It ruined everything! You know, it's not always the bigger things you remember most fondly. Sometimes it's the goofy, small stuff, like when Matthew McConaughey massaged my feet. Loved that! Or when LL Cool J lifted me over his head like I was a set of barbells.
TV Guide Magazine: RuPaul? Star Jones? Donald Trump? Spill it!
Behar: Very early on at The View,RuPaul was a guest and he made a negative comment about what I was wearing. I said, "What? I should take fashion advice from a drag queen?" Star Jones called into the show one time. She was going on too long about whatever and had just gotten her boobs lifted. Finally I said to her, "Okay, enough from you. Enjoy your new t--ties." I pulled on Donald Trump's hair, but that was his idea. He said, "C'mon, pull it!" because it would prove to the world that it was real. [Laughs] Ah, the memories!
TV Guide Magazine: Thoughts on the hiring of Jenny McCarthy as a View cohost?
Behar: I think it's a terrific idea. But she better watch out for Barbara Walters' wandering hands.
TV Guide Magazine: Do you think you'll get sloppy and sentimental on your last day at The View?
Behar: Look, I'm going to miss people but you have to have closure on things. It's a grind to have to be somewhere every day. This is very liberating. Regis is having a ball and doesn't regret leaving his show for one moment, and I plan to do the same. It's been a great ride but, no, I do not intend to get all weepy. Okay, maybe I might get a little farklempt on my final day — but I'm gonna fight it!
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