Jenny McCarthy rips Barbara Walters' actions on 'The View,' says she was 'miserable'
Jenny McCarthy is opening up about her 'miserable' time co-hosting 'The View' in an excerpt from a new book. McCarthy, who was a co-host on 'The View' from 2013 to 2014, opened up to Ramin Setoodeh in his upcoming book 'Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View.' McCarthy slammed creator Barbara Walters, comparing her to Fay Dunaway's performance as Joan Crawford in 'Mommie Dearest.'
Jenny McCarthy described her time co-hosting "The View" as "miserable" in an excerpt from a new book and slammed creator Barbara Walters, comparing her with the mother in the film "Mommie Dearest."
McCarthy -- a co-host on “The View” from 2013 to 2014 – opened up to author Ramin Setoodeh, who penned an upcoming book “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View.” An excerpt from the book was published by Vulture on Wednesday, and McCarthy doesn’t sound like she enjoyed her experience very much.
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“Every day I went home and I was miserable,” McCarthy told Setoodeh. “It really was the most miserable I’ve been on a job in my 25 years of show business.”
WARNING: STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL BELOW
A spokesperson for “The View” declined comment when reached by Fox News.
“It really was the most miserable I’ve been on a job in my 25 years of show business.”
McCarthy compared Walters to the abusive mother in the 1981 film “Mommie Dearest” because of the way she spoke to her during a debate about her son’s autism and whether or not it could be cured. That episode occurred when she was a guest on the program, prior to her landing the gig.
Journalism icon Barbara Walters launched “The View” in 1997.
“I’ve never seen a woman yell like that before until I worked with Barbara Walters,” she told Setoodeh. “One of my heroes just chewed me a new a--hole.”
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McCarthy said she passed on a CBS talk show to join “The View” and was initially brought on the show “because they wanted to get rid of politics,” which were considered “very polarizing” at the time. Ironically, the show now focuses on politics and has regained relevancy with constant attacks on President Trump. But long before Trump entered the political landscape, ABC wanted McCarthy to focus on pop culture.
Once McCarthy officially joined the show, she says she was asked to pivot because Walters – who was in her final season – didn’t know enough about pop culture to be part of the conversation.
"She was spacing out. She was checking out,” McCarthy said of Walters. “I panicked because I don’t consider myself a political person… Now I had to figure out, ‘Am I coming out as a Republican or a Democrat? Where do I stand on all the social issues and political issues?’”
McCarthy also told Setoodeh that Walters constantly nitpicked her clothing and fashion choices, often making her change to appease the show’s creator.
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“Barbara would check out what I was wearing. If she didn’t agree with it, or it didn’t complement her outfit, I had to change."
“Barbara would check out what I was wearing. If she didn’t agree with it, or it didn’t complement her outfit, I had to change,” McCarthy said. “Mind you, she doesn’t look at anyone’s clothes but mine... I was a human Barbie doll.”
Another incident involved a used tampon floating in the co-hosts’ restroom, and McCarthy claims Walters forced her to deal with it herself.
This June 25, 2014 photo released by ABC shows, from left, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters and Jenny McCarthy on the daytime talk show "The View," in New York. (The Associated Press)
“She’s standing in the hallway where the guests are, yelling at me about a tampon. I don’t know. Maybe in her brain, she went, ‘I’m going to the youngest, newest person here, because obviously she has her period and left a tampon floating.’ This is Barbara Walters. I’m not going to yell at her. So finally I said, ‘I’ll take care of it. I’ll take one for the team and I’ll flush it,’” McCarthy said.
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While McCarthy clashed with Walters, she didn’t exactly enjoy working with Whoopi Goldberg, either.
“People don’t understand. Whoopi can knock over anyone in a debate. Her voice is not only strong in meaning but in sound. I was able to get a point out in three words -- like ‘I don’t agree’ -- and that’s all I would be able to say. I would be stepped on or interrupted,” McCarthy said. “She had an addiction to controlling all of it and everybody.”
“Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View.” Is scheduled to be released on April 2.
Fox News’ Mariah Haas contributed to this report.
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