In a word, The View‘s 2021 has been …spirited. With one host’s departure, a flurry of guest hosts, and many, many hot topics, we’ve truly seen it all at the table.
While we entered 2021 with Meghan McCain, the fiery co-host left halfway through the year and seemed to toss gasoline on the long-brewing fires behind the scenes. Still at the table are moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, and the occasional visit from fill-in host Ana Navarro.
They’ve each brought their own chuckles, arguments, and gasp-worthy moments, and we’re here to unpack each and every day that had us doing a double-take. Buckle up! Whether you love to watch or love to hate-watch, we’ve got 11 of the best (or worst, depending on your POV) moments from the storied talk show. Read on for The View‘s most memorable moments of 2021.
Meghan McCain and Joy Behar Begin 2021 With a BANG
Joy Behar Wants to “Do a Porn” With Whoopi Goldberg
There were plenty of reveals in this late-January segment, in which Behar informed at-home viewers that she doesn’t always wear pants to tapings and that she wants to “do a porn for the blind” with Whoopi Goldberg.
“I’ve been watching a lot of TV since this COVID, and I want to tell you something: there was a time where you had to go to some sleazy motel and get some weird channel to watch porn,” she said. “And now, you just have to turn on Netflix! Everybody is doing soft porn. Everybody. The best, the biggest, the most talented, the most famous.”
She then invited Goldberg to do an NSFW segment for overeager fans at home, and the rest of the co-hosts completely lost it. Without a beat, the show was sent to commercial.
Joy Behar Makes an Awkward Joke About Carl Nassib
Joy Behar found herself in hot water after some bizarrely awkward comments about Carl Nassib, the first NFL player to come out as gay. The View rolled the clip of Nassib coming out, and immediately after, Behar chimed in: “It’s 2021, is this such a big deal?”
To make matters worse, Behar continued to sink in her point after Ana Navarro advocated for more LGBTQ+ representation in pro sports. “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.”
There was some awkward laughter from her co-hosts, but after hearing her co-hosts remarks, Behar apologized for her statement.
“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.”
Meghan McCain Blasts Kathy Griffin MOMENTS After Her Cancer Diagnosis
In her final week at The View, McCain went down fighting. During one of her final tapings, McCain slammed arch-nemesis Kathy Griffin — just hours after the comedian announced her cancer diagnosis. How unkind!
McCain began by blasting Griffin for her “homophobic jokes” made about friend Clay Aiken, even though Aiken has since been the comedian.
“I think he’s lucky he didn’t become an opioid addict, given the degree of bullying that happened to him when he was still struggling to come out of the closet,” McCain said. “I would love to hear an apology, if she’s doing this kind of soul-searching, for what could’ve happened with my good friend. I don’t like her, I’m never going to like her for all the jokes she made about Clay.”
Meghan McCain Leaves ‘The View’…
Perhaps the single biggest (Best? Worst? You decide.) moment of The View in 2021 was Meghan McCain’s departure from the series. Announced in July and executed with the 24th season’s end in August, the whole affair felt like a fever dream. Bestie Kyrsten Sinema and mom Cindy McCain came to visit, and with that, McCain’s tumultuous time with The View was over.
“This has been a really wild ride, the past four years of my life,” McCain said. “It’s been, honestly, the best of times, the worst of times in all ways, on and off the show. It’s been a really incredible, liberating experience. I will always cherish the time I spent with all of you. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”
…And She Still Hasn’t Been Replaced
Yes, Meghan McCain’s shadow still hangs over the ABC talk show. In the meantime, though, The View has kept things fresh by introducing a rotating slate of guest hosts to ring in Season 25.
Famous (and sometimes infamous) former co-hosts have returned as part of the show’s Flashback Friday segment. Meanwhile, controversial “conservative co-hosts” like Condoleeza Rice and Michele Tafoya drew ire from The View’s hosts and viewers alike, while audiences debated which of the more impressive guest hosts should join the table full-time. Never a dull moment on The View!
Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro Receive Positive COVID Tests Live
There are iconic The View moments, and then there’s COVIDGate 2021. The show’s September 24 episode descended into absolute chaos when Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro seemingly received positive COVID results live on air.
To make matters worse, this news was announced just minutes before Vice President Kamala Harris was supposed to appear for an exclusive in-person interview! She ultimately visited The View from a remote location, after a stunned Joy Behar and Sara Haines were forced to take questions from the audience to fill the live TV airtime.
Luckily, both Hostin and Navarro’s tests were later deemed as false positives. But such a wild blunder made this not just one of the most iconic View moments of the year, but one of the most iconic TV moments of 2021, period.
All the Hosts Drooled Over Oscar Isaac’s Full Frontal Nudity (To His Face!)
HBO Max’s Scenes From A Marriage remake was both a gut-wrenching exploration of modern relationships and a masterful acting showcase for Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. But one of the buzziest moments came when Isaac had a full-frontal nudity scene — something The View’s hosts were more than ready to unpack.
The steamy Scenes From A Marriage scene merited its own hot topics segment in October, as Joy Behar admitted: “I kept on rewinding it to find the full-frontal nudity because everyone was talking about [it].”
That wasn’t all — the hosts also grilled Isaac about the moment when he and Chastain appeared on The View just days later! “I’m so sorry. I’m feeling objectified right now,” he joked, then referencing his co-star. “[Chastain] gets all the deep questions? What the hell is going on here?”
Barbara Corcoran Fat-Shames Whoopi Goldberg
There’s no denying that Ana Navarro has been a standout on The View this year, regularly stepping in to fill Meghan McCain’s seat amidst a slew of Season 25 guest hosts. One of the political strategist’s most memorable moments came when she defended Whoopi Goldberg after Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran attempted to fat-shame her.
Cocoran appeared on The View to discuss Shark Tank’s new guest shark, Emma Grede, who founded a denim brand promoting body positivity.
After Goldberg joked about whether the jeans would fit her “COVID [behind],” Cocoran made a controversial joke of her own: “And when you get finished with those jeans and decide you don’t like them, you can give them to me. I’m going to make two pairs.”
The audience gasped, as Navarro leaped in to defend a shocked Goldberg. “Okay, so now we don’t like you,” Navarro said, ripping up her question cards. She also referenced Donald Trump Jr.’s previous attempt to disparage her online after her COVID scare, saying, “Donald Trump Jr. tried that on me. It didn’t work!”
For the most part, The View has been notably calmer since Meghan McCain’s departure. But sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya’s November appearance as guest host was a major exception. During her time on the show, Tafoya wasted no time sparring with Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and even Whoopi Goldberg about controversial topics like critical race theory and anti-vaxxers.
Joy Behar Makes a Bizarre Thanksgiving Challenge: “Just Come Out.”
The View’s annual Thanksgiving episode took a turn when Joy Behar shared some zany advice for viewers around the country: just come out! While the rest of the panel recommended avoiding politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table, Behar seemingly challenged Americans to come out of the closet on the holiday — inevitably confusing her co-hosts and a good chunk of the audience in the process.
“I would like to suggest that everybody out there come out to your family this Thanksgiving,” she said. She doubled down on her stance when her confounded co-hosts asked what she meant, adding, “If you’re gay, come out.”
Behar’s comments landed her in hot water on Twitter, but she stood by her advice on the episode itself. “I say that you should be yourself. This is my philosophy in life,” she said. “I’m here 25 years [on The View], I’m always the same: annoying as I am.