Joy Behar Leaving ‘The View’ After 16 Years

Joy Behar Returns The View — Courtesy of ABC

Joy says ‘it seemed like the right time’ to say goodbye to the show that made her a household name.

There’s about to be a lot less clucking on TV’s most popular hen house! HollywoodLife.com‘s sister site Deadline is reporting that Joy Behar — who has been involved with ABC’s The View since its premiere in 1997 — is leaving the show in August.

“It seemed like the right time,” she tells the site. “You reach a point when you say to yourself, ‘Do I want to keep doing this?’ There are other things on my plate I want to do — I’ve been writing a play, I’ve been neglecting my standup.”

But don’t expect Joy to disappear from TV forever! No, sir.

“I do like talk shows, I’m interested in talking to people,” she continues. “I want to do an intelligent talk show where you have room to breathe.”

(Well excuse me, Joy, but if Whoopi Goldberg farting on national television isn’t “intelligent” enough for you, then what is?)

CNN seems like a likely second home for Joy, as she confirms she had a “positive meeting” with CNN President Jeff Zucker and that she sees CNN as a “great place” for a potential new show.

Is Joy Behar Being Replaced On ‘The View’?

Despite a report from Star magazine, claiming that Joy was being forced off The View in order to be replaced by either Brooke Shields or Alexandra Wentworth, that’s simply not the case.

Joy’s decision to leave was completely her own, Deadline reports, and her rep tells RumorFix, “There is no chance Joy is going to be replaced on The View.”

That said, someone will have to come in to fill Joy’s legendary seat at the View table, so drop us a comment and tell us who you think should join the cast!