Joy Behar is not coming back to The View. But it sounds like they tried.
Joy Behar was on The View for 16 years, but left when Elizabeth Hasselbeck did. She is still very hush-hush about why.
“It was a fairly mutual decision,” Behar says now. “I’m not always sure why that happened, but I was ready to go,” she said. “I had had enough. I think that somebody – I can’t mention names – made the decision to change the show for some reason. So Elizabeth Hasselbeck and I both had to leave. There was a decision made at some level – I really am not at liberty to say who or why because I don’t know 100 percent the truth of that.”
One thing Behar will say is that they have tried to get her to come back.
“They’ve come to me, and we couldn’t make a deal,” Behar said. “They wouldn’t really negotiate well enough for me. And so I said, ‘No, I’m not coming back.’ I mean, if they were giving me a bigger role on the show, and giving me some power to actually make some changes and let them benefit from my expertise after being there for 16 years – but they’re not going to do that, so why would I want to bang my head against the wall?”
Who is this ragtag buncha nobodies on The View? WHERE'S JOY BEHAR
— ChristinaS (@stinasays) July 24, 2015
A Huffington Post commentary on the state of affairs at The View suggested that the show involve its audience more by allowing tweets and other input to be a part of the show.
But they also suggested that Joy Behar brought something to the mix that has gone missing since her departure: humor. They suggested a replacement.
“After Joy Behar bowed out, The View has been missing its resident funny girl and no one can quite pull in headlines and deal with the repercussions in quite the way Kathy Griffin could.”
Wow, WTF. @TheView couldn't come to a deal w @JoyVBehar who is the best they ever had? The show since Joy is unwatchable despite Whoopi
— LJ Carlson (@linnyc2000) July 30, 2015