Lisa Ling Confirms What We Suspected All Along About Joy Behar's On-Set Behavior

Joy Behar's dodgy behavior on "The View" has long been rumored, particularly following Meghan McCain's exit from the show last year. 

As the conservative political commentator told Variety, ahead of the release of her memoir, "Bad Republican," the final straw for McCain and the "unhinged and disorganized and rowdy" talk show came when she had a very public spat with Behar live on air. "That was the day I decided," McCain shared. 

The shocking moment occurred when the outspoken commentator joked that Behar must have missed fighting with her while McCain was out on maternity leave, only for Behar to fire back plainly, "I did not miss you." 

As McCain explained, "I had postpartum anxiety. When I was back, I was really nervous. It was like starting TV all over again. I felt unsteady. I was trying to make a joke... If you watch the clip, her reaction is very sharp."

Despite McCain crying and reportedly suffering a panic attack, no apology from Behar was forthcoming. Now, another former co-host is sharing a similarly harsh incident with Behar.

Lisa Ling recently made her highly anticipated return to "The View," and, while promoting her guest spot, the veteran journalist reminisced about her original stint on the hit talk show. She was a regular contributor on "The View" from 1999 to 2002, per Entertainment Tonight. 

During an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," she clarified that it's a very different beast nowadays. 

"You really have to express your opinion so vociferously on that show, and in the age of social media, you're just scrutinized so severely," Ling revealed.

In fact, during her very first day back, Ling was at the center of a massive fight after she argued that President Joe Biden should apologize to Americans for his infamous hot mic moment. Funnily enough, what amounted to a small debate on the show was written about in the tabloids as though Ling was "causing chaos." 

Ling was quick to point out that the women all get along great behind the scenes. However, she also noted that Joy Behar criticized her during a commercial break for "talking too much."

Thankfully, Ling was better equipped to handle the nonstop chatter this time around than when she was 26 and fighting for her voice to be heard. "It is really difficult to get a word in edgewise. I did a little better this time," she noted. 

As far as Behar was concerned, though, Ling did a little too much talking.

After her comments to Jimmy Kimmel were widely circulated by several different news organizations, Lisa Ling took to social media to clarify her position. She posted a short statement to Instagram, alongside a screengrab of a People article.

"I want to clear up a mistake that I made on @jimmykimmellive the other night," Ling explained. "Joy emailed me to say she didn't say I was 'talking too much,' but rather that I was 'talking over' them."

Ling continued: "As you see, this incident was reported by PEOPLE and other outlets and infers that because I had a differing opinion from her, that she shut me down. That wasn't the case and I have a great relationship with Joy."

The veteran journalist also reiterated her position that "The View" has changed significantly since she worked on the show two decades ago.

However, Ling made it clear that her reticence to take on the role full-time once more has everything to do with social media — and her own self-professed sensitive nature — and nothing to do with any of the ladies themselves.

"It takes balls to be on that show, and frankly, my skin is nowhere near being thick enough," Ling concluded her Instagram message.

The current "View" lineup comprises Behar; Sunny Hostin; Sara Haines; and Whoopi Goldberg, who was recently suspended over controversial comments she made about the Holocaust on air.

Although Lisa Ling made it clear she hadn't actually disagreed with Joy Behar that intensely, the current "View" co-host has made other people angry with her comments in the past.

Per Page Six, in November 2021, Behar came under fire for claiming during an episode of the show that closeted LGBTQ+ people should "come out" to their families over the Thanksgiving break.

"See what happens!" she enthused, as a visibly confused Whoopi Goldberg asked for clarity on what she meant by "come out."

Online commentators took issue with Behar's attitude to something that, for many queer people, is an emotionally difficult and potentially even dangerous moment in their lives.

"@JoyVBehar please don't be pressuring people to come out of the closet if they're not ready," wrote one Twitter user, while another pointed out how "incredibly dangerous" it is to push people to come out before they're ready to do so. There was also confusion over whether Behar was "encouraging people or threatening them."

As one commenter explained succinctly, "Many of our fellow community members face real threats to their lives if they come out to family. If you haven't been in this situation, don't give us advice."

Behar is a committed and vocal ally of the queer community, receiving GLAAD's Excellence in Media award in 2010 for her work on the short-lived "Joy Behar Show."