Joy Behar Was ‘Glad’ to Be Fired From ‘The View’ in 2013: ‘I’m a Powerful Person’

As the only original panelist still present on The View, Joy Behar recalled being fired from the show in 2013, something she says she was “glad” about in an interview with Time. The comedian, who was discovered during one of her stand-up acts by Barbara Walters, was first asked to join the talk show as the comedic relief in 1997 and lasted 16 years before being being let go, though she remains unapologetic to this day.

“I was glad to be fired,” Behar said. “I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don’t even remember why.”

Current View co-host Sunny Hostin said her blasé attitude can be attributed to the fact that she “doesn’t hold a grudge.”

“That’s how she’s been able to deal with this show,” Hostin said. “She just leaves it at the table and then moves on for another day.”

However, in 2015, when ratings for The View were slipping and the show got a new set of producers, executive producer Hilary Estey McLoughlin knew Behar would be the person to get the show “back into the cultural conversation,” thus marking her return.

Regarding her time on the talk show as well as her time in stand-up, the 79-year-old co-host went on to say, “you have a power when you have that microphone.”

“People don’t like it,” she continued. “They don’t like it that I’m a powerful person on The View, saying things that they don’t like, but I’m sorry, that is where I’m at. I’m a powerful person on The View; I was a powerful person as a comedian holding a microphone. Too bad.”

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