The Untold Truth Of Joy Behar
Joy Behar has been a part of the daytime television landscape since 1997. That was the year that legendary broadcast journalist Barbara Walters launched "The View," a current-events talk show on the ABC network, in which she headed an all-female panel as they shared their opinions on the news of the day. Since then, the show's format hasn't changed a whole lot, even if the panelists have. One near-constant on the show has been Joy Behar, a New York City-based stand-up comic who entered the homes of American TV viewers and never left. A big reason for that is her keen ability to offer sharp, unvarnished opinions couched in humor, a skill honed from years of performing in comedy clubs, and refined even further as one of NYC's most popular talk-radio personalities.
In the decades that have passed, Behar has become a staple on television, and one of the most familiar faces in the daytime genre. Yet even those who welcome Behar and her fellow "View" stars into their homes each day may have no idea how little they actually know about her — from her formative years to her unorthodox entry into showbiz to the personal life she rarely mentions on television.
To find out more, keep on reading to discover the untold truth of Joy Behar.
She was once an English teacher
It's fair to say that Joy Behar was something of a showbiz late bloomer. In fact, she was pushing 40 before trying her hand at stand-up comedy. Prior to that, she was a schoolteacher. "I used to teach high school English in one of the worst, toughest neighborhoods in New York City at that time. You know, the kind of kids who go to jail because they set fire to their parents," she told the New York Daily News. "I would say, 'Whom do you wish to murder? Not who.'"
As she told The New York Times, she eventually grew tired of the job. "I just didn't want to do it anymore," she said. When she nearly died from the complications of an ectopic pregnancy, she experienced an epiphany. "You're on your own, baby," she recalled in an interview with New York magazine. "Also, you realize no failure in your career, no humiliation — nothing is as bad as dying." With that in mind, she quit her teaching job and began performing stand-up wherever and whenever she could — which wasn't nearly as glamorous as it may seem. "I did some garbage-y gigs ..." she told Time.
The way Behar sees it, whether she's performing stand-up or sharing opinions on "The View," she's never really strayed that far from her roots as a teacher. "Someone once told me I'm still teaching, only now I have a bigger classroom," she told The New York Times.
She was almost cast in the first season of SNL
Back in 1975, a TV show debuted that revolutionized the entire medium. Created by Canadian television producer and writer Lorne Michaels, "Saturday Night Live" brought 1970s counterculture to network television, and introduced a cast — dubbed the Not Ready for Prime Time Players — that included such future stars as John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, and many others. Had things gone differently, one of those names could have belonged to Joy Behar. "I almost made the original cast of 'Saturday Night Live' in 1975," Behar told Us Weekly.
Even though she was never cast on "SNL," Behar apparently made enough of an impression on Michaels that he hired her a decade later for another project, his short-lived NBC sketch-comedy series "The New Show," which never made it past the first season.
While Behar wasn't a member of the "SNL" cast, she's been parodied on the show many times — perhaps most memorably by Fred Armisen, who gifted Behar with a catchphrase ("So what? Who cares?") that she never actually said. "I love being impersonated by a man!" Behar quipped in mock offense during an appearance on Marlo Thomas' "Mondays with Marlo," but did admit she thought Armisen's take was pretty funny. Years later, when a whole new cast inhabited the show, Behar shared her relief when Kate McKinnon began impersonating her. "Finally an actual female is playing me," Behar tweeted.
How a stand-up gig for a comedy icon brought her to The View
Joy Behar's star was on the rise during the 1990s. Her burgeoning profile in NYC's comedy scene led her to be tapped to perform at a prestigious event: the 89th birthday of legendary comedian Milton Berle. Among the high-profile guests in attendance was Barbara Walters. As Behar would later tell PR.com, Walters had no idea who she was, and asked fellow party attendee Regis Philbin if he knew anything about her. "I knew Regis, and he said, 'Oh, don't you know her, she's so funny!'" Behar recalled.
What Behar didn't realize was that Walters was in the midst of putting together the cast of "The View", and asked her to audition. Behar landed the gig, which originally saw her on air three days a week until being bumped up to five. With the exception of a brief hiatus, Behar has been a part of the show ever since. One reason for her longevity on the show has been her ability to treat often contentious disagreements with other panelists as part of the job, and not something to take personally. "She doesn't hold a grudge," co-host Sunny Hostin told Time.
After Walters' death in 2022, Behar credited her for the television career she'd enjoyed for nearly three decades. "I miss Barbara," Behar told ET. "I always say, 'Thank you, Barbara,' for giving me a job like this that has lasted so many years."
She once played a waitress in a Tums commercial
Before Barbara Walters tapped Joy Behar for "The View," she'd been making her own inroads into mass media. As a 1992 New York magazine profile noted, she was then hosting her own talk radio show. Meanwhile, she was also pursuing acting roles. One of these, in fact, was playing a waitress in a commercial for Tums, which viewers of "The View" got to experience when the spot was played during a 2021 episode of the show.
That's not the only acting role under Behar's belt prior to landing "The View." Following her first screen credit — as a woman named Gertrude in the 1987 film "Hiding Out" — she went on to appear in several other movies, including "Cookie," "This Is My Life," and the Woody Allen-directed "Manhattan Murder Mystery." She was also cast as a series regular on television, playing German nanny Helga Von Haupt in the 1988 sitcom "Baby Boom." "My father didn't even recognize me," she said of her short-lived role in the quickly canceled series. "He watched the show and said to my mother, 'She's not in it.'"
Behar continued to be offered acting roles after coming to "The View." Due to the show's success, however, in most of those post-"View" roles she was cast as herself, playing Joy Behar in such TV series as "Sports Night," "Spin City," "All My Children," "Ugly Betty," and "Nashville," in addition to the feature film "Madea Goes to Jail."
She's written a few children's books
Joy Behar, like many celebrities, has written books. Her first, "Joy Shtick," came out in 1999, followed by "When You Need a Lift" in 2007. A decade later, she returned to the world of publishing with her 2017 tome "The Great Gasbag," subtitled, "An A-to-Z Study Guide to Surviving Trump World."
While those books were clearly aimed at viewers of "The View," in 2006 she went after a whole other demographic with the publication of her children's book, "SheetzuCacaPoopoo: My Kind of Dog." According to ABC News, the story was inspired by her late dog, Max, whose unique breeding — Shih Tzu, cocker spaniel, and poodle — inspired the title. She wrote a sequel in 2009, "SheetzuCacaPoopoo: Max Goes to the Dogs."
Interviewed by Celebrity Parents Magazine, Behar revealed the inspiration behind the second book in the "SheetzuCacaPoopoo" series. "This book is an homage to Barack Obama," she declared, explaining that the plot involved Max becoming a community organizer — much like Obama did before becoming a senator and then America's 44th president. "Now, that's a stretch, honey!" Behar jokingly admitted. However, she added, her children's books are, more than anything, her loving and comedic way of paying tribute to her beloved pet. "My Max was a handful," Behar recalled. "He humped everyone's leg. The book is more like a 'The Way We Were,' remembering him in all his glory!"
Her solo talk shows didn't turn out the way she'd hoped
In 2009, as she was well into her second decade with "The View," Joy Behar expanded her reach from daytime to primetime with "The Joy Behar Show," her solo talk show that aired on the HLN cable network. "I'm a workaholic," Behar told Variety of the rigors of appearing on two five-day-a-week talk shows.
In December 2011, with no warning, HLN unceremoniously canceled "The Joy Behar Show." "The show has not been renewed," a spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. As Behar told The New York Times, she was hopeful that the show would be picked up by another network. While that didn't happen precisely, she was hired the following year by the Current cable channel to launch and host a new talk show, "Joy Behar: Say Anything!" "When Current TV offered me a show and said I could say anything I wanted to on it, it was a no-brainer," Behar said, via Broadway World. "Current is like the g-spot of television — it may be hard to find but once you find it, there's nothing better."
When the owners of Current — a group that included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore — sold the channel to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news organization, that marked the end of her second show. "I was very disappointed that Al Gore sold it ... because I liked my job a lot," Behar complained to The Mercury News.
She's a two-timer on The View
To point out that "The View" has experienced its ups and downs over the years is an understatement. In fact, there have been a number of major cast shakeups since the series first debuted, including the volatile and supremely entertaining addition of Rosie O'Donnell, in addition to such swing-and-a-miss additions such as "Full House" alum Candace Cameron Bure, former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy, actor Rosie Perez, and one-time "Cosby Show" kid Raven-Symoné.
Through all that tumult, Joy Behar had remained a constant on the show — until 2013, when she exited. "It just seemed like the right time," she told Deadline, claiming the decision to leave had been solely hers. A few years later, however, she admitted she'd that hadn't been true, and she'd been fired. "Somebody wanted me gone," Behar told People in 2017. "It was not 100 percent my choice." At the time, she declared that she'd moved on. "I don't really care," Behar told the Boston Herald. "I'm not interested in it. It's in my past and my future is completely different now."
Of course, that didn't turn out to be the case at all. In 2015, Variety reported that Behar was rejoining "The View" — at the insistence of Barbara Walters, no less, who apparently believed the show had suffered without Behar. "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in," Behar said in a statement, referencing Al Pacino's famed line in "The Godfather Part III."
She wrote and starred in her own one-woman show
During the two-year period between her firing and rehiring from "The View," Joy Behar was certainly not sitting around idle. Making the most of her free time, in 2014, she launched "Me, My Mouth & I," her one-woman off-Broadway show, in which she was both star and writer. As Behar told Page Six, the show was an autobiographical journey chronicling her rise from underprivileged Brooklyn kid to daytime television star. "This is a good time to take stock of my shenanigans," Behar told the outlet.
Before making its off-Broadway debut at Manhattan's Cherry Lane Theatre, Behar workshopped the show in smaller markets. One of these was Fairfield, Connecticut, where she described the show to the Connecticut Post. "It's about my journey from an Italian girl in the shtetl to `The View,'" she explained. "There are a lot of laughs. I insist on being funny [as I tell my story] because I don't want people to be bored."
As one might expect, given Behar's stand-up comedy background, the show was bursting with zingers. Among these, noted a review in the New York Post, involved her "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg's well-documented fondness for marijuana, joking that she'd feel a "contact high" just by being in Goldberg's presence. "She was killing my diet," Behar quipped. "Every time I sat next to her I ended up getting the munchies."
The guest who made her walk off her own show
There have been many controversial moments on "The View" over the years, and Joy Behar has verbally sparred with numerous guests who spouted views that opposed hers. There was one guest, however, who so enflamed and enraged her that she simply couldn't continue, and walked off the set in the midst of a show.
That guest: disgraced former Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly. As ABC News reported, the interview had already become contentious when O'Reilly declared, "Muslims killed us on 9/11." Moderator Whoopi Goldberg responded, although what she said was bleeped by ABC censors. Behar stood from her chair and said, "I don't want to sit here. I don't." She then stormed off the stage, with Goldberg right behind her. Barbara Walters scolded her co-hosts for what she viewed as their inability to remain calm and rational. "I love my colleagues," Walters said, "but that should not have happened." She then turned to O'Reilly to chastise him. He offered an apology, which was enough for Behar and Goldberg to return to their seats.
In a subsequent interview with The Advocate, Behar admitted she was not a fan of O'Reilly. "Yeah, I don't care for him," she said, pointing out that it was his demeanor, not his right-wing opinions, that rankled her. "First of all, I've met him several times, and he's cold — his personality," she explained. "So it's not his politics, it's really his vibe."
She's had sex with ghosts
Joy Behar's long-time co-host on "The View," Whoopi Goldberg, famously won an Oscar for her portrayal of a psychic who helps facilitate a romantic reunion between a widow (Demi Moore) and her deceased husband (Patrick Swayze) in "Ghost." As it happens, Behar herself can boast of a very similar experience, something she revealed to viewers during a 2022 edition of "The View."
Commenting on a story about a Texas woman whose house was haunted by "sexual ghosts" with amorous intentions, co-host Sara Haines wondered whether knocking boots with a ghost could result in a spectral pregnancy. "I've had sex with a few ghosts and never got pregnant," Behar divulged (via People). As the stunned audience paused to take in whether Behar had actually said what she'd just said, Goldberg offered her own comment. "I don't know how many of you just heard what Joy just said, but I'm going to let it ride," she quipped.
In a subsequent episode (via Decider), Behar not only didn't walk back her original statement, but turned it into a comedy bit. "It's all true. I have had sex with ghosts," Behar joked. "Casper was not a generous lover. The ménage à trois — it was almost like having sex with myself. So light. So yes, it's true, ladies and gentlemen."
She took heat for a Blackface controversy
White people costuming themselves as Black people, for Halloween or other reasons, has become a thorny, hot-button issue that has ensnared many a celebrity in controversy. Over the years, stars who've been hit with backlash for darkening their faces have included Ted Danson, Julianne Hough, and even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while Megyn Kelly's defense of Blackface led her to be fired from her high-profile NBC talk show.
Add Joy Behar to that list — sort of. During an episode of "The View" in which the panelists discussed why the practice was offensive, Behar displayed a photo of herself in costume, taken during the 1970s. "That is me. I was 29. It was a Halloween party, I went as a beautiful African woman," Behar told viewers, as reported by TheWrap. "That's my hair," Behar added, noting that the makeup she wore was only slightly darker than her actual skin tone, and that her naturally curly hair was unchanged from the way she normally wore it at the time.
When the clip resurfaced on social media several years after it aired, Behar was hit with backlash. "For me, it was like, 'Look at how pretty I can look as a woman dressed like this,'" she told Associated Press in defense of the photo. However, that same AP story also added a subsequent comment, ostensibly from Behar but more likely written by the show's publicist: "I would never do that now. I understand it's offensive."
She does the NYT crossword puzzle every day — and even created one
Asked by Us Weekly to reveal 25 things that fans might not know about her, among the tidbits Joy Behar offered was this: "I do the New York Times crossword every day, and sometimes I turn to [crossword blogger] Rex Parker for a little help." Behar demonstrated that devotion during an interview with The Mercury News, telling her interviewer that she was in the midst of finishing up a puzzle while simultaneously watching television (Behar is nothing if not a multi-tasker).
In fact, Behar is so much of a crossword puzzle devotee that she even helped to create one. The fruits of her efforts were seen in a September 2017 edition of The New York Times, which featured a puzzle produced by Behar in collaboration with veteran Times puzzle maker Lynn Lempel.
"I started doing the New York Times puzzle right after college, when I found myself working a job that had a lot of down time," Behar told the Times of how she first became enamored with crossword puzzles. As she explained, solving the puzzles proved to be somewhat therapeutic for her. "The best part of doing the puzzle every day is that it provides a distraction like no other: From politics, the phone and the refrigerator. So thank you," she added.
She found lasting love with second husband Steve Janowitz
Joy Behar's first marriage ended in 1981. The following year, she began dating Steve Janowitz, a fellow teacher. They continued dating until finally tying the knot — nearly 30 years later.
The couple had actually intended to get hitched a few years before that, with a wedding planned in 2009. However, when Behar was hired by HLN for her talk show, that put the brakes on the couple's wedding plans. While speaking at the Friars Club, as reported by the New York Daily News, Behar admitted she'd changed her mind about getting married. "What'll happen is, when I decide to do it, I'll do it, and then everybody will know I did it. I can't make up my mind," she said. As for Janowitz, Behar said he had no problem with the postponement. "He says, 'Do whatever you want.," Behar explained.
When they finally did walk down the aisle, Behar shared the news on a 2011 episode of "The View." As she explained (via Us Weekly), she was inspired to pull the trigger by the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York. "And I thought it was a good reason for me to get married. And so did Steve, so we did it," she said. Naturally, she followed that up with a zinger. "If he was going to get down on one knee, I wanted it [to] be during the time when he could still get up from one knee!" she joked.
Joy Behar doesn't care what her critics say about her
After decades of issuing controversial statements and wading into polarizing topics on "The View," Joy Behar has developed a thick skin when it comes to criticism. That's particularly true when said criticism comes from right-wing media outlets that disagree with her loudly liberal viewpoints. "I just say what I say," Behar told Time. "And then they're upset with me. I'm their favorite target over at Breitbart and Fox."
While Behar has, for the most part, been unrepentant, she has occasionally apologized on those occasions when she's stepped over the line — like the time she apologized for equating then-VP Mike Pence's faith with "mental illness."
"Well, I've gotten in trouble a few times on the show," Behar admitted in a 2021 interview with People. However, what she said next should make anyone question the sincerity of any future mea culpas she may offer. "I've had to apologize, which I'm happy to do in order to save mine and everybody else's job," she said, explaining the nuts-and-bolts reason she doesn't mind extending the occasional insincere apology if necessary. "I don't care. Even if I don't mean it, I'll do it. Even if I look like I'm in a hostage takeover, I'll still do it, because if you don't do it, you lose your job and everybody else's," she says.