Montage: Moments that forced 'The View' hosts to make apologies on air
The ABC talk show's hosts like Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar have repeatedly been forced to apologize for comments that sparked outrage.
ABC News’ "The View" continued its long tradition of issuing on-air apologies on Thursday when co-host Whoopi Goldberg declared she was "sorry" for linking a promient conservative group to neo-Nazis.
Apologies and on-air disclaimers have become common on the ABC News daytime gabfest over the years, with ABC legal correspondent and co-host Sunny Hostin typically reading statements to keep the show out of legal trouble.
But Goldberg and fellow co-host Joy Behar have a long history of making comments that eventually require an on-air apology. Here are five of the most memorable recent examples:
Repeated apologies after linking Turning Point USA to Nazis
"The View" has issued at least four public corrections or apologizes this week after linking the conservative organization Turning Point USA to neo-Nazis. It started Monday when "The View" co-hosts mocked the group’s Student Action Summit, and co-host joy Behar criticized TPUSA because neo-Nazi protesters were present outside the venue.
"Neo-Nazis were out there in the front of the conference with anti-Semitic slurs and, you know, the Nazi swastika and a picture of a so-called Jewish person with exaggerated features, just like [Joseph] Goebbels did during the Third Reich. It’s the same thing, right out of that same playbook," Behar said.
Later on the program, "The View" read an on-air legal disclaimer to inform viewers that Turning Point USA condemned the neo-Nazis protesters who had "nothing to do" with the organization.
"But you let them in, and you knew what they were," Goldberg said before the panelists were forced to read another disclaimer and explain the neo-Nazis were "outside protesters," not ones allowed in. "My point was metaphorical," Goldberg claimed.
Fox News Digital later reported on a letter from TPUSA that told "The View" to retract the comments or face legal action. The show obliged in the form of co-host Sara Haines reading a note to viewers on Wednesday, but TPUSA was still bothered that Haines, not Goldberg, issued the apology.
On Thursday, Goldberg finally addressed the situation herself.
"In Monday's conversation about Turning Point USA, I put the young people at the conference in the same category as the protesters outside, and I don't like it when people make assumptions about me," Goldberg said. "And it's not any better when I make assumptions about other people, which I did. So, my bad, I'm sorry."
TURNING POINT USA ISSUES CEASE AND DESIST TO ABC NEWS OVER ‘DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS’ ON ‘THE VIEW’
Whoopi Goldberg issues apology for Holocaust comments that got her suspended
Earlier this year, Goldberg issued an apology after facing intense backlash for arguing that the Holocaust "isn't about race," which even stunned her colleagues at the table.
"What is it about?" co-host Joy Behar asked.
"It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about," Goldberg said.
"But it’s about a White supremacist going after Jews and Gypsies," guest co-host Ana Navarro said as Goldberg attempted to speak over her.
"But these are two White groups of people," Goldberg said as her colleagues disagreed.
Multiple Jewish groups, including the ADL, condemned Goldberg's remarks and the Auschwitz Memorial even suggested that she take an online course on the history of the Holocaust. "The View" co-host eventually apologized.
"On today's show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.' I should have said it is about both," Goldberg wrote in a statement that evening. "As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people - who they deemed to be an inferior race.' I stand corrected."
Goldberg later reiterated the sentiment on-air and Greenblatt joined the program to educate Goldberg about the Holocaust. Despite the apologizes, ABC News suspended Goldberg for two weeks for making "wrong and hurtful comments."
Joy Behar, an outspoken liberal who typically defends the LGBTQ+ community, misgendered Caitlyn Jenner during a 2021 episode of "The View." (Getty Images)
Joy Behar ‘didn’t get enough sleep’ when she misgendered Caitlyn Jenner
Behar, an outspoken liberal who typically defends the LGBTQ+ community, misgendered Caitlyn Jenner during a 2021 episode in a segment where she repeatedly used the incorrect pronouns for Jenner, a conservative formerly known as Bruce Jenner who came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
Jenner, now a Fox News contributor, was running for governor of California at the time and her campaign was being discussed on "The View" when Behar made the pronoun gaffe.
"He's got this guy Brad Parscale running his campaign," Behar said. "What do you think about that? I mean, that guy was accused of using campaign funds to enrich himself. That's who is running his campaign — or her campaign, rather."
Behar caught herself making a similar mistake later in the segment.
"I think that he should — she, rather — should take a seat and let somebody with the credentials take over a major state like California," Behar said.
After a commercial break, Behar apologized and blamed the mix-up on a lack of sleep.
"So first of all, let me apologize for my pronoun mix-up. I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night," Behar said. "I had no intention of mixing them up and I tried to correct it immediately but, whatever, it just came out. So, I'm sorry if anybody was upset by that."
Joy Behar apologized for mocking the Christian faith of Vice President Mike Pence in 2018. (Reuters)
Joy Behar apologizes to Mike Pence after mocking his religious faith
In 2018, Behar criticized then-Vice President Mike Pence's Christian faith by saying that hearing from Jesus is actually called "mental illness."
The ordeal began when co-host Sunny Hostin said, "I don’t know that I want my vice president, um, speaking in tongues and having Jesus speak to him."
Behar chimed in, adding that hearing from Jesus is actually called "mental illness."
Everyone from religious groups to Pence himself were offended, and the vice president even spoke out on the situation.
"To have ABC maintain a broadcast forum that compared Christianity to mental illness is just wrong," Pence said during an appearance on C-SPAN following the controversial remarks. "It is simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance."
Behar initially stayed silent on the backlash to her comment, but it was revealed during a Disney shareholder’s meeting that she privately called Pence to apologize. Once her private apology was revealed, Behar also discussed the incident on-air.
"I was raised to respect everyone’s religious faith and I fell short of that," Behar said. "I sincerely apologize for what I said."
Joy Behar landed in hot water in 2015 after asking why a nurse would wear a "doctor’s stethoscope on her neck." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
Behar apologizes after upsetting nurses across the nation
Behar landed in hot water in 2015 during a discussion about Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson, a nurse, who wore scrubs and a stethoscope on stage during the pageant to perform a monologue about one of her patients and the importance of her career.
When discussing the emotional monologue, Behar bluntly asked, "Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on her neck?"
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Nurses across America were peeved and retaliated with a hashtag campaign #NursesUnite to support Johnson. National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses, sad Behar "trivialized the profession of nursing" and also slammed "The View" for referring to medical scrubs as a "costume" during the same segment.
Behar initially downplayed the controversy but eventually apologized on-air.
"We apologize for our remarks, and we know how vitally important nurses are," Behar said.
The View has come under scrutiny numerous times during the show's time on the air. Such examples include a conversation in which Sunny Hostin suggested that a Black or Hispanic conservative was an "oxymoron," an instance where Goldberg attempted to defend filmmaker Roman Polanski after he was arrested on rape charges, and another time when Goldberg attempted to defend disgraced comic Bill Cosby.
Fox News’ David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.