Joy Behar warns silent View studio audience about World War III: 'That's the end of everything'

Joy Behar interrupted her introduction of an important political guest to issue a concerned warning to The View's stunned, silent studio audience about the dangers of World War III.

The 81-year-old cohost broke from her segue into a Friday morning interview with White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby to caution viewers about escalating violence amid the war in Gaza, calling the developments "heartbreaking" before turning to the live crowd.

"A lot of people are concerned that things could escalate into World War III," Behar says in the clip below, seemingly improvising to stress the horrors of the situation. "Oh, God. You can't have World War III! That's the end of everything."

Behar told Kirby that everyone in the room was "horrified" by what she had just read, and asked Kirby what the country is doing to ensure that the Israel-Palestine conflict does not intensify into a deeper, global clash.

"Everything President Biden is doing, everything over the last couple of weeks, is designed to prevent that exact scenario," Kirby said.

After the interview, Behar closed Friday's broadcast with another word of advice for viewers.

"So, that's our show for today. Everybody should have a great weekend. Don't watch the news," she said. "If you really want to have a nice, relaxing weekend, I'd suggest you watch comedy, okay? And take a little time to enjoy 'the view,' of course!"

Behar's words come two days after Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman stopped by the show to bring tidings of the apocalypse to the Hot Topics table.

"There have been, if I remember correctly, six extinction-level events on the planet since life began. Six times, large, large portions of life — not human life, we're talking just life — gone, destroyed," Freeman told the cohosts as he plugged his new Netflix series Life on Our Planet. "We're headed for another one. Scientists have said if we don't hurry up and change our ways, there's going to be a cataclysmic event that will wipe many of us off the face of the earth."

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC. Watch Behar warn its studio audience about World War III in the video above.

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