Joy Behar Denies Report That She’s Leaving ‘The View’: ‘I Can’t Take A Cruise Now’

Rumors of Joy Behar's retirement 'have been greatly exaggerated,' the longtime 'The View' host announced. No, she's not going anywhere, and won't in 2022 if she's still 'fabulous!'

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Reading Time: 2 minute
April 9, 2020 11:38AM EDT
Joy Behar
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THE VIEW -4/10/20 - The cast of "The View" broadcasts from quarantine during the COVD-19 pandemic. FRAMEGRAB (ABC News/Frame Grab) WHOOPI GOLDBERG, SUNNY HOSTIN, JOY BEHAR, MEGHAN MCCAIN
THE VIEW - 10/24/19 Michael Douglas is the guest today on ABC's "The View." "The View" airs Monday-Friday 11am-12 noon, ET on ABC. VW19 (ABC/Lou Rocco) MICHAEL DOUGLAS, SUNNY HOSTIN, MEGHAN MCCAIN
THE VIEW - 10/24/19 Michael Douglas is the guest today on ABC's "The View." "The View" airs Monday-Friday 11am-12 noon, ET on ABC. VW19 (ABC/Lou Rocco) ABBY HUNTSMAN, JOY BEHAR, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, MICHAEL DOUGLAS, MEGHAN MCCAIN, SUNNY HOSTIN
Image Credit: ABC

False alarm, everyone! Joy Behar, 77, set the record straight on the April 9 episode of The View, emphatically telling viewers that she is not retiring, despite what she said in a recent interview. “”Rumors of my retirement have been greatly exaggerated,” Joy joked. “Here’s the thing — what am I going to do? This pandemic has changed the game. At one point, you think ‘gee, I could retire and take a cruise around the world.’ I won’t even watch reruns of The Love Boat at this point. So where am I gonna go? What will I do?

“You know, I need to be on television. Let’s not forget that I provide employment for right wing media. I’m a job creator at Breitbart,” she joked. “I don’t see how I could leave.” Her co-hosts basically told her she wasn’t allowed to leave the show. Whoopi Goldberg, 64, said it would be like “breaking up the band,” and Meghan McCain, 35, insisted that she needed her around during her pregnancy. “I read [the news] online yesterday and immediately called Joy, and was like, ‘this is not an option,'” Megan said. “You’re not leaving, I’m not leaving, none of us are leaving! There’s a pandemic, and an election, and the world is insane… It’s not an option, Joy. We’re not going to let you go.”

Joy went on to explain what she actually meant when she told Variety editor Ramin Setoodeh that when her contract was up in 2022, she “didn’t see” herself hosting The View anymore.

Joy briefly quit in 2013, and came back as a co-host in 2015. She was one of the show’s original hosts in 1999, and is currently in her 21st season. “What I did say to the reporter who reported this was, if I’m as fabulous in 2022 as I am now, I’ll probably be here. Nobody knows what they’re going to do in the next two years. Look at what just happened to all of us in this world. You can’t predict anything. But as of now, as of today, the answer is no; I’m going nowhere.