‘The View’: Joy Behar Tells “Inappropriate” Joke About Gay NFL Player Carl Nassib, Quickly Apologizes

Joy Behar found herself in hot water on this morning’s episode of The View after cracking a joke about NFL player Carl Nassib, who made headlines for being the first active professional football player to publicly come out as gay. During a conversation about Nassib’s announcement, Behar tracked back her “inappropriate joke” not long after she said it.

Nassib released a video yesterday (June 21) sharing his news, in which he explained, “I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I just think representation and visibility are so important.” He continued, “I actually hope that one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary. But until then, I’m going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate.”  After playing the clip, Behar asked her co-hosts, “It’s 2021, is this such a big deal?”

After hearing Ana Navarro‘s take, who argued it was “about being seen and accepted,” Behar delivered her joke. “Ana, after they said ‘penetration in the End Zone,’ they lost me,” she said, replying to Navarro admitting she “may even watch a football game every now and then.”

Behar’s comment was met with awkward laughter from her co-hosts, with Navarro even plugging her ears. The exception was Meghan McCain, who was visibly unamused. After hearing from Sunny Hostin and McCain about their thoughts on Nassib’s coming out video, Behar issued a half-hearted apology for her joke.

“I just long for the days when you can just be gay in the world and it doesn’t become a big deal,” she said. She added with a wave of her hand, “By the way, that inappropriate joke I made for daytime television, scratch it. Make believe I never said it.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.

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