Whoopi Goldberg lashes out at Ana Navarro for saying Joy Behar was ‘fired’ from ‘The View’

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg lashed out at her colleague Ana Navarro for saying Joy Behar was previously “fired” from the daytime talk show, something Behar herself has been candid about. 

On Monday’s broadcast, the ladies of “The View” paid tribute to the show’s co-creator Bill Geddie, who died on Thursday at age 68. 

Navarro shared how Behar, who was absent from the broadcast, had deeply admired the late executive producer despite their past tensions, saying “Bill hired Joy and fired Joy, yet she still loves him.”

That didn’t sit well with Goldberg.

“He didn’t- he didn’t fire Joy,” Goldberg said while pointing at Navarro. “No, he did not.”

Co-host Sunny Hostin attempted to smooth over the tense exchange, saying Geddie was prepping “the next iteration” of the long-running ABC program. 

Except Behar has repeatedly acknowledged she had been fired from the show following her 2013 exit. 

During a 2018 appearance on “Good Morning America,” Behar said at the time she was “fired” for two of the 22 seasons of “The View.”

“But it gives hope to people. You know, you could be fired from a show, and they hire you back on the same show. They know that they made a mistake!” Behar told her ABC colleague Robin Roberts.

In 2019, Behar acknowledged she was “summarily dismissed.”

In a July 2022 interview with Time magazine, Behar said “I was glad to be fired, adding “I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don’t even remember why.”

She reiterated that sentiment while discussing her ouster from “The View” on “The View” in February 2023.

“I always have friends where I work, and if I don’t have friends at the job, I will not keep the job,” Behar told her colleagues. “So, when I was fired last time from this show, people say to me, ‘Were you okay with that?’ and my answer is I was happy because all my friends had left already. So, there was no reason to stay anymore. I mean it.”

Even as recently as May 2023, Behar spoke about her involuntary departure from “The View.”

“I’ve been on this show for 26 years, right, with a small hiatus as we all know — forced,” Behar joked with the audience. 

While Behar’s past comments contradict Goldberg’s quick defense of her, it was reported at the time that Behar had exited “The View” of her own volition. 

Behar first joined the show at its launch in 1997 and was shown the door in 2013. She later returned to “The View” in 2015.