Joy Behar Has Definitive Response to Rumors She's Leaving 'The View'

Joy Behar has no plans to give up her seat at The View's Hot Topics table anytime soon. After rumors swirled that Behar, the longest-serving member of the panel and the only remaining original cast member, was set to retire from the long-running ABC talk show, Behar set the record straight with a definitive answer.

Addressing the rumors in a statement to the New York Post, Behar's representative denied the reports as "fake news," confirming that Behar is not currently planning an exit. In fact, not only is Behar not set to exit The View this year, she won't be leaving anytime within the next few years. Behar's representative revealed that the panelist has signed another three-year deal with ABC that will keep her attached to The View until 2025. Her future after that remains unclear. Further details of the contract, including just how much money Behar will make, are unclear, though the outlet suggested the network is likely paying the comedian an "eight-figure sum," as she was previously reported to have been paid $7 million for her previous three-year contract.

Behar's remark came after the Independent Journal Review reported on Monday, July 4 that Behar was poised to exit the show sooner rather than later. The outlet cited an April 2020 report from Variety that said Behar was mulling the possibility of leaving the program when her contract expired. Variety cited excerpts from the panelist's book, Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View.

"I have a three-year contract. But that doesn't mean I can't leave if I want to, because they can't really do anything to me at this point," she wrote. "I don't see myself staying for more [time]. That's it! I could be wrong. If I'm as fabulous in [2022] as I am now, I'll think about it. But the chances of that happening...You know, time marches on. I'm not a kid."

At the time, the outlet reported that multiple sources "confirmed that Behar has been floating a 2022 exit from the show." However, a spokesperson from ABC denied those rumors, sharing, "This is not true. Joy was asked what happens at the end of her contract and as she herself made clear in the interview, if she's 'as fabulous in [2022] as I am now,' she will be in her seat at the table."

Behar is a piece of The View's history. She currently remains the only co-host to have sat at the discussion table since the ABC talk show's 1997 debut. The series' original cast was composed of Behar, Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos. In 2013, Behar was fired by ABC daytime executives who decided to make the talk show less political, though she was brought back in 2015 and has remained a staple ever since, currently sitting alongside fellow panelists Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines. Ana Navarro appears one day a week. Behar moderates the show every Friday.