Top 20 Controversial The View Moments

Preceding the release of “Ladies Who Punch,” Ramin Setoodeh’s nonfiction book about “The View,” audio leaked of an expletive-laden tirade from former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. After a heated debate about the morning-after pill in 2006, Hasselbeck was so outraged by Barbara Walters’ comments that she stormed off set. The audio of the backstage meltdown surfaced over a decade later. She loses her cool after being reprimanded by Walters, and insists she’s not returning to the show… before ultimately returning to the show. Hasselbeck’s assertion that she doesn’t swear is made ironically funny given how many times she dropped the F-bomb in a two-minute period. When the audio leaked, Hasselbeck released an apology, explaining that she was pregnant at the time.

In a 2022 episode, the panelists were talking about the banning of books in schools, particularly books that deal with racism, the Holocaust, and supposed adult themes. Mid-discussion, Whoopi Goldberg stated that the Holocaust was not about race. Aside from the inaccuracy of the comment, it seemed to come out of nowhere. Though Goldberg tried to clarify her statements, she issued a live apology the next day. The moment made national headlines, and Goldberg received a tide of criticism from all corners. She was personally suspended by ABC News president Kim Godwin, and was relieved of her hosting duties for two weeks.

In 2010, Gibson was caught in a vicious feud with his partner, Oksana Grigorieva. In one particularly hateful voicemail, Gibson spouted something so horrific we can’t repeat it here. He also allegedly referred to one of his employees as a slur against Mexican people. While the outrage was immediate, Whoopi Goldberg defended Gibson on “The View,” saying that she personally knows him and that he is not a racist. This in turn led to more outrage, as people decried Whoopi for defending Gibson after he said such awful and clearly racist things. Joy Behar put it best when she said, “That language certainly sounds racist to me.”

Raven-Symoné is at it again, this time defending an abusive cop. In 2015, a video surfaced of a police officer violently taking down a student after she refused to get off her phone in class. Many people called the reaction unnecessary and excessive, and the officer was promptly fired. Raven-Symoné chimed in during the aftershow titled “After the View”and said that the student should have just followed the rules and put her phone away. While she did condemn the officer’s actions, many saw it as an example of victim blaming. People were outraged, and a Change.org petition was created calling for Raven-Symoné to be fired. It received 130,000 signatures in five days.

Republican TV personality Jeanine Pirro, host of Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine” appeared on “The View” for just a few minutes before her segment was cut when she upset Whoopi Goldberg. During her appearance, Pirro covered a host of topics –defending the Russia–United States Helsinki summit, blaming Obama for everything, and telling Whoopi that she had a nonsense illness called Trump Derangement Syndrome. After Pirro began saying horrible things about immigration, Whoopi swiftly said goodbye (literally) and the other hosts brought the interview to a close. You don’t always have to respect everyone’s opinions!

This was another instance where Whoopi Goldberg’s difference of opinion with a Fox News star caused a stir. While visiting “The View” in October 2010, Bill O’Reilly made a few enemies with his controversial political comments. The topic was Park51, a proposed Islamic community center that was to be built just down the street from Ground Zero. Bill told the cast that “70% of Americans don’t want [the] mosque,” without citing a source; however, it’s actually from a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll. Bill went on with derogatory comments, prompting Whoopi to curse at Bill before walking offstage with Joy in disgust. They eventually returned, and Bill clarified his comment, but the damage had already been done.

This one is a nice mix of controversy and painful awkwardness. The episode that aired on May 23, 2007 is probably one of the most famous episodes in “The View’s” history, prompted by a long-standing rivalry between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The topic was the Iraq war, and liberal Rosie and conservative Elisabeth were quickly at each other’s throats. It swiftly erupted into a massive fight that resulted in Joy and Sherri pretending to walk offstage and asking for a commercial break to diffuse the tension. Executive producer Bill Geddie later admitted that “it was a horrible day to be in ‘The View’ studio.” We can only imagine.

While Woody Allen’s art has been acclaimed, his personal life has long been the subject of scrutiny. His relationship with Soon-Yi Previn is well-documented, and in 2014, his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, wrote an open letter accusing her father of sexually assaulting her when she was seven years old. Barbara Walters came to Allen’s defense on “The View,” calling him a “loving” and “caring” parent, despite the sexual assault allegations. Walters and co-host Sherri Shepherd proceed to argue about Allen and his past, and the media quickly made scathing headlines of Barbara’s defense.

In August of 2015, cast members on “The View” were discussing Donald Trump’s racism and his controversial views on immigration. Wishing to attack Trump and his political beliefs, Kelly Osbourne said, “If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?” It was a ridiculously offensive thing to say and was quickly met with shocked gasps and rebuttals by her co-hosts. While Kelly said that she “didn’t mean it like that,” people were deeply offended, and Kelly was forced to issue an apology, singling out her “poor choice of words.” Yeah, you can say that again!

Here we have another instance of a host defending a controversial celebrity. In the mid-2010s, Cosby’s reputation was permanently tarnished after he became the subject of numerous sexual assault allegations. Whoopi Goldberg was quick to defend Cosby on numerous occasions, vehemently declaring that he was innocent until proven guilty. She then became the subject of numerous personal threats and late-night TV ridicule. To her credit, she later switched her stance and said that the evidence pointed towards his guilt. And it did indeed, as Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in April 2018.

Which of these moments made you want to dramatically walk off the stage? Let us know in the comments.