Why Joy Behar Was Fired by ‘Good Morning America’

Joy Behar enjoyed her own daytime television space long before The View as co-host in 1997 at the show’s inception. During the recent Nov. 25 episode of the ABC reality series, Behar revealed that she worked as a receptionist at Good Morning America before transitioning to being in front of the camera. “First of all, I’d like to say that when I was fired from ‘Good Morning America’ years ago,” the 80 year old blurted out. “I was the worst receptionist they’ve ever had!” she insisted, prompting co-host Sara Haines to vouch for the “true story. So I was fired, and they took me to Chippendales as my goodbye present. Welcome to Chippendales” — that she participated in all that the male striptease show has to offer, including “put[ting] the money in the guys’, you know, thingy. It’s fabulous!” 

Since being on The View, she’s become a fan favorite. But in 2013, she was fired as a panelist. “It seemed like the right time,” Behar told Deadline at the time. “You reach a point when you say to yourself, ‘Do I want to keep doing this?’ There are other things on my plate I want to do — I’ve been writing a play, I’ve been neglecting my standup,” the comedian added. But she also revealed it wasn’t fully her choice to leave. 

“Somebody wanted me gone,” Behar told People. “It was not 100 percent my choice. When they told me they weren’t renewing, I said, ‘Good, I’m out of here.’ I didn’t like the way the show was going at that time. The way I heard it, and I don’t know what’s true because you never know, they got rid of a Republican, so they wanted to get rid of a Democrat,” Behar added. “That’s not the first time I’ve been fired for my politics. So I wasn’t shocked at that analysis.”

Despite her exit, she continued to show up occasionally as a temporary co-host. She returned as a co-host in 2015.