Joy Behar Reveals Her Agent Told Her Not to Work on ‘The View’

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After almost 30 years as a co-host on The View, Joy Behar is practically a part of the furniture on the long-running ABC daytime talk show. However, there was almost a reality where the comedian never accepted the job.

Speaking on the latest episode of The View‘s Behind the Table podcast, Behar told the show’s executive producer, Brian Teta, that her agent initially advised her not to accept the gig back in 1997.

“When I got this job — when was it? 1997? — I was sort of on the cusp of getting a sitcom. I had been in a sitcom already, and I’d done a pilot,” Behar said, per People.

She was referring to the short-lived NBC sitcom Baby Boom, an adaptation of the 1987 film of the same name, which aired from November 2, 1988, to July 13, 1989. Behar had a recurring role in the series as Helga Von Haupt. Following the show’s cancelation, Behar was hoping to land a sitcom of her own.

Instead, she explained, “the call comes for this job to do The View with Barbara Walters.”

A veteran broadcast, Walters created The View and served as co-host until 2014. She was also the show’s co-executive producer for 25 years alongside her business partner, Bill Geddie. Walters died on December 30, 2022, at age 93.

Recalling the job offer, Behar told Teta, “Do you know that my agent told me not to take it?” because it apparently “didn’t pay enough.”

But Behar didn’t care; she remembered, “I said, ‘It’s in New York City with Barbara Walters. I don’t wanna live in L.A. I wanna live in New York City [and] work with Barbara Walters.’ Because I knew that it would be a smart show with her behind it.”

Behar stuck to her guns, accepted the job, and is now the longest-tenured member of The View panel, which currently includes Whoopi Golberg, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro. She also won a Daytime Emmy Award for her role in 2009.

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During the conversation, the stand-up comic also recalled how she received a lot of pushback throughout her career, both as a comedian and as a co-host on The View.

“I was just told by executives and network people and agents I was too New York… which I think is code for too Jewish or too ethnic,” she stated, though Teta pointed out Behar is not actually Jewish.

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “I think that that was what even somebody even said when I got this show. Somebody I knew in the past told Bill Geddie, ‘Oh, she’s too local.’”

Teta noted that Behard has a very strong Brooklyn accent and a “New York sensibility,” to which she responded, “But it’s part of the country… You can’t have everybody coming from Iowa.”