Mediaite » Joy Behar

Whoopi Goldberg Discusses Her Past Working As A Phone Sex Operator

Jon Bershad — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:15:44 +0000

Recently for Good Morning America, contributor Elizabeth Hasselbeck reported a story on a growing trend of stay at home mothers supplementing their family’s income by becoming phone sex operators. Today on The View, Hasselbeck and her co-hosts discussed and Whoopi Goldberg revealed that she herself had spent some time on the other end of the phone.

All of the hosts were fairly supportive to the women although Sherri Shepherd said she wouldn’t let her kids go over to a friend’s house if the mother did that job because she wouldn’t want the kids accidentally finding her stuff lying around. This prompted Joy Behar to ask the obvious question of “What stuff?”

Meanwhile, Goldberg joked that she couldn’t go back to her old job now because people might recognize her voice. The ladies then had a lot of fun imagining some guy watching the show today, remembering his old phone calls, and putting two and two together.

Watch the clip from ABC below:

Joy Behar Ends Her HLN Show In One Of The Funniest Ways Imaginable

Nando Di Fino — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:46:57 +0000

Joy Behar‘s show on HLN drew to a close on Thursday night after having been unceremoniously canceled just two years after making its debut. HLN will show re-runs of her old episodes, and, in January, will fill the slot with a re-air of Nancy Grace‘s broadcast from earlier in the evening.

While this week had already been a mini farewell tour for Behar, the end of her final show was a wild delight. During her panel, comedian Lewis Black, who surprised Behar by literally walking on to her stage, called HLN, “a network that’s hellbent to s**t on itself.” Behar then thanked the audience and fans, and invited her crew — “Call me for recommendations!” she urged potential employers — on to the stage with her for a champagne toast. After a final, “Thank you all for watching!” from Joy, the screen went black.

And then the brilliant surprise began.

Behar woke up in a bed, in an homage to the final scene of Newhart (complete with a framed picture of Bob Newhart on her nightstand), saying, “I had a terrible dream. I dreamt I had my own TV show, and I kept repeating the same stories, over and over again. Day after day, night after night — it wouldn’t end!”

The man in bed with her rolled over and sat up. It was Joe Scarborough. “Baby, baby, that wasn’t a dream…it’s cable news! Now go back to bed. I’ve gotta get up in a couple hours.”

“Oh, okay,” Behar replied. “Pleasant dreams.”

She then turned off the light and the screen went dark again. And after a quick beat:

“Joe! Not tonight, I have a headache.”

“Damn.”

Due to a technical glitch, we are unable to pull the actual clip from HLN, however the good people of Morning Joe covered it, so watch the clip of Behar’s final moments below, courtesy of MSNBC:

UPDATE: Here is the hi-res version, courtesy of HLN:

Joy Behar Confesses Her HLN Sins… Including One About Glenn Beck

Alex Alvarez — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:40:20 +0000

Now that Joy Behar is poised to wrap up her HLN show, it’s a good a time as any to sit down and confess some of the sins she’s committed during her time as host.

Seated in a confessional with ~~Anderson Cooper~~ Father Edward Beck, Behar confessed that she’d lied about her HLN colleague Nancy Grace‘s dancing abilities (Girl, I do not know what show you’ve been watching, but Nancy Grace is nothing short of stellar) and that she’d told lawyer Gloria Allred that former GOP presidential contender Herman Cain harassed her as a ruse to get Allred to come to a party.

But perhaps the biggest sin of all was Behar’s confession that she’d cursed upon thinking that Father Beck was related to none other than Glenn Beck. Dun dun dunnn:

Don’t get mad at me for this, ’cause I used a swear word when I thought that you, Father Beck, were related to Glenn Beck.

Tsk tsk. Will Behar be joining Jon Stewart in Hell?

Watch, via HLN:

Rosie O’Donnell On Donald Trump: He’s The ‘Perfect Choice’ To Moderate A GOP Debate

Alex Alvarez — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:57:54 +0000

New OWN host Rosie O’Donnell appeared on Joy Behar‘s HLN show, in part to talk a little smack about the current crop of GOP presidential hopefuls.

After describing Trump as being “like Lord Voldemort” and performing an impression of the reality TV star for Behar, O’Donnell shared that he was the “perfect” person to moderate a GOP debate. “I don’t even believe it’s real anymore!”

O’Donnell’s comments, however, seem to reflect that she thinks the GOP, as a party, somehow picked Trump to moderate Newsmax’s debate, even though many establishment Republicans — including Karl Rove — have been quite vocal about their disdain for and exasperation with this particular choice of moderator.

Now, you may recall that O’Donnell and Trump haven’t exactly shared the rosiest of relationships over the years. In December of 2006, O’Donnell accused the mogul of using the scandal surrounding Miss USA winner (and alleged drug user / Miss-Teen-USA-kisser) Tara Conner to try and generate publicity for his Miss USA franchise, adding that it was rather ironic for him to take on the role of moral arbiter given his history of extra-marital affairs. Trump retaliated by going on a veritable media blitz against O’Donnell, threatening to sue her and even to take away her then-partner. He also made this awkward between O’Donnell and her The View co-host Barbara Walters by alleging that Walters had regretted hiring O’Donnell for the show.

Later, O’Donnell also started in on former candidate Herman Cain for his habit of quoting “pokey man.”

Have a look at the segment, via HLN:

Whoopi Goldberg Graphically Discusses ‘Pudenda’ To Shocked View Audience

James Crugnale — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:05:47 +0000

Whoopi Goldberg explicitly dished repeatedly on female “pudenda” in a graphic discussion on porn with the panelists of The View as audience members laughed nervously. “I like porn, I think porn is good for — yes, I do. I think it’s good,” Goldberg acknowledged. “I will tell you what bothers the hell out of me, because this is something that I should have watched over the years. When you see where porn stars are– the women, what their pudendas look like, you can track what other women are going to be doing… there used to be a time when a woman’s pudenda — they looked like women. Then suddenly it became like a landing strip, and then it became bald, and I’m saying what’s wrong with that is they made it what a young girl’s pudenda looks like…it’s bad because I understand you want to do some grooming, but to make yourself look like you did when you were 12 or 13 sends a message to people that you want a kid’s body.”

“I like Hitler’s moustache as a look,” Joy Behar provocatively quipped, referring to her nether regions, to stunned silence.

Following Behar’s X-rated joke, Goldberg, sensing how adult the “hot topic” had become, immediately cut to commercial.

While body image obviously is an important subject matter for women, the shockingly frank talk about genitalia (and frequent use of the term pudenda) on network television perhaps went a little too far for many daytime viewers. ABC might want to consider airing a viewer discretion advised warning before such topics are discussed.

Watch Whoopi’s frank discussion of “pudenda” on ABC:

Artie Lange’s Version Of Hell? Being Stuck With A Peeing Newt Gingrich In An Airplane Bathroom

Nando Di Fino — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:46:00 +0000

Artie Lange was a guest on Joy Behar‘s show Thursday night, and gave one of the most entertaining interviews ever seen on HLN.

Behar pulled no punches with her questions, asking Lange about everything from his suicide attempt to his time in the psych ward. And Lange didn’t shy away from the answers, cracking self-effacing jokes and sharp comebacks. Some of the highlights:

On his attempted suicide: “It was more just an attempt to try and get some rest. It was a little bit misconstrued. I thought if I lost enough blood, I’d get some rest.”

On why Lange stabbed himself in the stomach instead of going for veins: “I didn’t go to medical school, I don’t know where veins are.”

On if he abused heroin?: “You think I skipped that? What, do you think I went right to heroin? Kindergarten to Harvard?”

On where he got his heroin: “You want an address? Listen, I’ll give you the number after the show, Joy.”

On the loss of control and forgetting things when on drugs: “This actually happened to me. I’m walking down Sixth Avenue a few weeks ago and a guy comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, remember we hung out together a few years ago in Portland, Oregon?’ I go, ‘I’ve never been to Portland, Oregon.’ And then he takes out his iPhone and he shows me a picture of me and him, literally in front of a sign that says, ‘Welcome to Portland, Oregon.’ I go, ‘Well you win that one. What was it like there?’”

Coming back from the commercial break: “Welcome back to Intervention.”

On his time in a psych ward: “It was like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, except without any of the charisma or the big Indian guy who could play basketball. I had nobody like that. It was always the fat guy who was schizophrenic who never got his medication on time would wander into my room at 3 a.m. and want to talk about the Knncks or something.”

On his version of hell: “What if I die and I wake up and I’m in a bathroom on an airplane, and right next to me is Newt Gingrich taking a leak? Just me and him. And Satan shows up and says, ‘Listen, you guys can never leave. I’ll see ya.’ And that’s it.”

Watch a clip of Lange’s Gingrich crack below, courtesy of HLN. Lange can be heard every night from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on The Nick and Artie Show

Whoopi Goldberg Gets Bleeped Arguing Herman Cain’s Private Life Isn’t Politically Relevant

Frances Martel — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:35:03 +0000

With the pressure hitting the Herman Cain campaign increasing as his sexual harassment accusations give way to new philandering claims, the debate over whether his personal failings should matter in politics was the topic du jour at The View. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Whoopi Goldberg who seemed to care the least about his personal life, noting that “as long as you are not boning the country,” she didn’t mind the action on the side. And with that, Goldberg got bleeped, and finally has something in common with Ann Coulter.

While Sherri Shepherd found something of his character to be in question given the allegations, Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck argued that it is possible to be a good businessperson without being a good person in a moral way. “A relationship with another person is vastly different than running a country,” Goldberg argued, “you’re having problems in your relationship, you need to see a therapist… as long as you’re not [bleep]ing the country…”

At that the table erupted in laughter before continuing the debate, citing Presidents in the past with moral failings and Hasselbeck proposing a Gingrich-esque question: “Can you have two loves? Maybe they love business so much they can’t exactly be faithful,” a remark with spurs Goldberg into song.

The segment via ABC below:

Ann Coulter Explains Bleeped Insult To Joy Behar: ‘I Said ‘D*ckweed,’ I Thought You Could Say That!’

Frances Martel — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:38:09 +0000

Ann Coulter made a rare appearance on MSNBC today, and, well, the insults were rolling fast and loose, and not escaping the censors. Coulter visited Joy Behar tonight to review her experience there and clarify what exactly she called Sen. John McCain that merited bleeping: “I said ‘dickweed,’ I thought you could say that!”

The Headline News censors were merciful this time to Coulter, so we now know for sure what she said to McCain (she had also tweeted her statement earlier to clarify). She told Behar tonight that it was not meant to be frivolous, either: “I was making a very important point, I might add.” Noting that the discussion was centering around a lack of consistency in the records of Republican candidates, “I was just making the point that I don’t think consistency is the most important value,” she explained. “Look at John McCain, he was consistently a dickweed.”

Behar laughed and noted that Coulter was not the first person to be profane on Morning Joe– Mark Halperin had gotten in trouble for calling the President a “dick” on the network, too. “If they have to bleep that,” Coulter joked, “they won’t be able to use the 2012 campaign slogan ‘Obama: He’s Kind of a Dick.’”

As Coulter had been a frequent guest on Behar’s program, now winding down, Coulter noted how sad she was to see the show go, as it was her sanctuary from the Casey Anthony trial on the network. “For eight months your show was the only one I could watch and avoid hearing anything about that white trash bimbo who apparently… was acquitted of killing her child” (Coulter later clarified that she was not universally disparaging poor people– “there are many lovely people who are white, black, Latino, who are poor”).

The full interview airs tonight on HLN at 10PM– the excerpts on Anthony and Morning Joe below:

Joy Behar: Jimmy Fallon’s Band Should Have Played ‘Don’t Know Much About History’ For Bachmann

James Crugnale — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:08:53 +0000

The View‘s Joy Behar took a swing Monday at Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann over her outrage about the song “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” which Questlove and The Roots played to introduce the Minnesota Congresswoman on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. “They should’ve played ‘Don’t Know Much About History‘!” Behar exclaimed to laughter and cheers from the crowd. “That would’ve been a better song.”

The panelists earlier discussed the hubbub over Questlove’s song selection.

Barbara Walters wasn’t familiar with the song, asking Whoopi Goldberg if there were any lyrics to it.

“Well, it’s familiar to us who know the song,” Goldberg noted. “Do you know all the words?” asked Walters. “Do you want me to sing ‘em?” joked Goldberg.

Goldberg added that she thought it was interesting that in response to the kerfuffle over “Lyin’ Ass Bitch”, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh jokingly introduced Michelle Obama to Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back. “Does this mean then, with all the things Rush has said, that he actually thinks Michelle Obama has a big butt? Is that what he’s saying?”

Co-host Sherri Shepherd thought that politics didn’t play a role in Questlove’s use of the song.

“Michele Bachmann says (the song was played) because she was conservative. I don’t think it’s necessarily because she’s conservative because I don’t think she has enough power,” she argued. “I think it’s disrespectful to her as a woman. If it were Laura Bush or Nancy Reagan, I think heads would have rolled.”

“The songs were not appropriate either way,” Goldberg concluded.

Watch Behar’s joke about Bachmann below via ABC:

Bernie Goldberg Weighs In On Bill O’Reilly’s Beef With Ellen Barkin: It’s Not Important

Alex Alvarez — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:26:33 +0000

You may recall that, last week, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly took on HLN’s Joy Behar for having enabled her guest, actress Ellen Barkin, to have shared false information about terrible things O’Reilly had supposedly said about her on his show. At the time, O’Reilly called Barkin’s statements “a flat-out lie” and said HLN and its parent network have a duty to “challenge statements that are provocative, like that one.”

Last night, O’Reilly invited Fox News contributor Bernie Goldberg to discuss who, exactly, should be held responsible when guests lie on television:

Here’s my rule of thumb, Bill. If Ellen Barkin — or, for that matter, Henry Kissinger or Stephen Hawking — if anybody went on a cable program and said, “The other night I heard Bill O’Reilly say that President Obama is a communist spy, he’s a Manchurian candidate and he oughtta be impeached,” then everybody involved needs to apologize. Because that kind of slander cannot stand.

The person who said it would have to apologize, the person who let it go by without challenge would have to apologize, and the network. Some executive at the network would have to come forward and apologize. Because that kind of accusation is important. But when a celebrity makes a dopey comment, as celebrities have a tendency to do, on a silly little cable TV show, that’s not important.

“It is to you,” he conceded, when O’Reilly began to protest.

“Let me challenge that,” said the host. “I don’t care what they say about me. My problem in this country isn’t with people who watch me every night; it’s with people who don’t watch me and don’t know and hear thirdhand from people like that.”

“That’s a bit of a problem. But since we’re the dominant, number one program,” he added, “it’s not much of one.” He made sure to add that Behar’s show was being canceled because she “didn’t get very good ratings.”

“That’s a shame,” said Goldberg.

Have a look at the segment, courtesy of Fox News:

Fran Drescher Chides Joy Behar For ‘Contributing To The Problem’ Over Hooters’ Waitress Segment

Nando Di Fino — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:25:04 +0000

On Monday night, Joy Behar started a panel discussion on her show about a parent who complained when a Hooters waitress in Florida was invited to talk to a group of high school and middle school students for a career day. Behar erroneously told the panel that the waitress spoke at a special needs elementary school, then quickly brought up the earlier case of porn star Sasha Grey reading to schoolchildren last week.

Comedian Jessica Kirson began the discussion by doing a stale impression of an airheaded Hooters waitress, and Bonnie Fuller followed up by noting that it was surprising that this happened, as Florida is one of the most conservative states in the U.S. Behar again noted that this was an elementary school for special needs kids (but, in her defense, she defended the fact that this is still just a waitress, regardless of where she worked) before kicking the discussion over to Fran Drescher, who gave a brilliant moment of clarity to the program — and talk shows in general– as the segment wrapped:

“People don’t have anything better to do,” Drescher said, before realizing where she was. “Joy what are you doing? You’re contributing to the problem!”

This is why Drescher has a point: a report on the incident from a local reporter, WTSP’s Beau Zimmer, has an interview with the waitress, 23 year-old Brittany Morgan. She says she was dressed in a track suit and had more clothing on than some students in the school. She’s also upset that someone complained about her having an actual job and judging what she does. “I don’t see anything wrong with being a server,” she told Zimmer. “Most of us are young women working our way through school and aspire to be other things in life.” She added that she’s planning on going back to college, and that even a server can teach students about the importance of professionalism in the workplace and self respect.

Not to dump on Behar, who actually defended Morgan’s line of work, but Drescher’s comment, especially in light of the misinformation put out by the show, might be one of the most intelligent things uttered on any cable news show Monday night.

Watch the panel discussion below, followed by the report from Zimmer, courtesy of HLN and and WTSP:

…and the local report:

The View’s Joy Behar Likens UC Davis Pepper Spraying Incident To Kent State

James Crugnale — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:31:52 +0000

The controversial pepper spraying incident at UC Davis was a hot topic Monday on The View with Joy Behar comparing the police action to the Kent State shootings.

“A lot of people watching are too young to remember Kent State in this country, where the police shot a couple of students,” observed Behar. “It’s outrageous, this type of behavior cannot be tolerated by the police!”

Behar was alluding to the infamous killing of four students by the Ohio National Guard, targeting Vietnam War protesters in 1970.

“I’m sorry,” Whoopi Goldberg said. “There is no — there is nothing they could have been doing, short of physically scaring those police, to have that man go down and — they’re sitting there!”

Whoopi then got up and reenacted the campus police’s pepper spraying. “Just like this, down the thing, came back up and sprayed them again. There’s no excuse for that.”

Barbara Walters said the chancellor had to take responsibility for the matter. “Should the president of the school resign? She says she won’t. I mean, the buck stops, it would seem with her.”

“Who gave them the order to do it?” demanded Sherri Shepherd. “I know nothing, so therefore knowing nothing, I can’t say anything,” Walters added. “It seems to me that the president is culpable.”

“You’re going to get me suspended,” Goldberg jokingly lamented.

“We’re going to get pepper sprayed!” exclaimed Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Watch the panelists discuss the UC Davis pepper spraying controversy below via ABC:

Thursday’s Ratings: Jump For Joy!

Nando Di Fino — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:00:45 +0000

Late Wednesday night, Deadline broke news that Joy Behar would be leaving her show on HLN at the end of the year. And boy, did it do wonders for her ratings. Behar attracted 198,000 viewers in the 25-54 year-old demo. The show still finished fourth, but it was a marked jump from her previous numbers — Behar had averaged 97,000 demo viewers over her previous 10 shows. The jump may have just been from curiosity-seekers, but it was a jump, nonetheless, and Behar’s show was the highest-rated on the HLN slate Thursday night.

Some more exciting numbers-based trivia:

Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow came tantalizingly close to hitting the million-total viewer mark at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively. Schultz had 999,000 total viewers, Maddown pulled 996,000. All of the Fox shows brought over one million in total viewers.

Nancy Grace gave HLN a second-place finish in the demo at 8 p.m., scoring 193,000 viewers. It was HLN’s only second-place finish on the night.

Building off of yesterday’s inaugural Maddow Watch (“MaddoWatch”?), in which we see if Rachel Maddow’s ratings came close to any Fox show in any time slot, her Thursday show attracted 262,000 demo viewers. Bill O’Reilly‘s re-air at 11 p.m. brought in 279,000. That’s a cushion of just 17,000 25-54 year-olds. Sadly, we’ll all have to wait until Monday to see if she makes any more progress tonight…

Average Time Slot Finish:
Fox News: 1
MSNBC: 2.3
CNN: 3
HLN: 3.7

Here are the complete cable news ratings for Thursday night:

TV NEWS RATINGS: 25-54 DEMOGRAPHIC (L +SD)

5 pm

The5

354

Blitzer

139

Matthews

157

Special

6 pm

Baier

441

King, USA

117

Sharpton

149

Prime

7 pm

Shep

427

Burnett

147

Matthews

173

Issues

114

8 pm

O’Reilly

667

Cooper

140

Schultz

181

Grace

193

9 pm

Hannity

528

Piers

168

Maddow

262

Dr. Drew

148

10 pm

Van Susteren

341

Cooper

210

O’Donnell

234

Behar

198

11 pm

O’Reilly

279

Burnett

148

Schultz

135

Showbiz

112

TOTAL DAY

321

138

132

104

PRIME TIME

514

173

226

176

Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD)

5 pm	The5 1,610	Blitzer 665	Matthews 776	Special 212
6 pm	Baier 2,051	King, USA 470	Sharpton 774	Prime 281
7 pm	Shep 1,909	Burnett 434	Matthews 881	Issues 379
8 pm	O’Reilly 3,166	Cooper 496	Schultz 999	Grace 562
9 pm	Hannity 2,188	Piers 782	Maddow 994	DrDrew 463
10 pm	Greta 1,670	Cooper 732	O’Donnell 806	Behar 529
11 pm	O’Reilly 1,074	Burnett 407	Schultz 466	Showbiz 295
TOTAL DAY	1,386	498	541	276
PRIME TIME	2,346	670	933	511
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data

Report: Joy Behar Set To Leave HLN At Year’s End

Alex Alvarez — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:29:12 +0000

Deadline.com is reporting tonight that Joy Behar will be leaving her HLN show, which she’s hosted since 2009, by the end of the year. Behar’s show is doing well for the network, second in ratings only to Nancy Grace‘s program.

But leaving her show doesn’t mean Behar isn’t open to considering a new project with Turner Broadcasting, the parent company to both HLN and CNN:

Comedian-writer-actress Behar will continue as a co-host of ABC’s The View, where she is under a long-term deal, while also exploring new opportunities, possibly within HLN’s parent company Turner Broadcasting.

An “insider” is quoted as saying that “It just felt it was time for everyone.”

h/t Deadline.com

Fox and Friends Calls For Boycott Of Bill Maher Book Over Hasselbeck Joke

Nando Di Fino — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:48:39 +0000

On Tuesday’s The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck confronted Bill Maher over a joke he made about her in February, suggesting that America send her to Egypt in exchange for Lara Logan. The confrontation was a little awkward and her co-hosts — most notably Joy Behar — kind of left her out to dry.

Wednesday morning, however, Hasselbeck found a trio of defenders on Fox & Friends, with the trio noting that, “this is what all comedians do, when they want to appear partisan.” Gretchen Carlson wasn’t having it. She went after Maher, raising her voice and getting visibly angry:

“That was a STUPID comment for him to ever say in the first place, and completely offensive to any woman.”

Brian Kilmeade, meanwhile, seemed to figure out that the more they talked about Maher, the more exposure they were giving him (Maher, after all, is on all these shows to promote his book). He shut down the segment by pulling back the curtain for just a few moments. “I urge you,” he told the cameras, “not to go out and buy his book.”

Enjoy a clip of the segment on this morning’s Fox & Friends, courtesy of Fox News:

[UPDATE: This story's headline has been edited from "Ban" to "Boycott" since its original posting, to more accurately reflect the sentiments of the hosts. We'd like to thank our wonderful, level-headed commenters for helping us sort out the error]

Elizabeth Hasselbeck Confronts Bill Maher Over Joke In Uncomfortable View Segment

Jon Bershad — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:25:07 +0000

Things got very, very uncomfortable today over at The View thanks to an appearance by Bill Maher. Last February on Real Time, Maher had made a joke that, were Hosni Mubarak to release the then-captured Lara Logan, they could trade him Elizabeth Hasselbeck. At the time, Hasselbeck had been furious, starting a mini feud that an unrepentant Maher seemed to have no interest in fighting. That dynamic was continued all these months later as Hasselbeck was still very, very upset and Maher was still very, very uninterested in fighting her.

Hasselbeck was clearly ready to go at it from the moment Maher took the stage. After he made a joke about Republicans and then jokingly apologized to her, she said he could apologize later. But she then decided it couldn’t wait and jumped right into it, bringing up the joke as well as the horrible circumstances that we now know befell Logan in Egypt (it is important to note that Maher made the joke a week before those details were released). An annoyed-seeming Maher quickly responded that he does a comedy show, she’s a public figure, and, as such, she’s “fodder for comedians to make comments on.”

What made the moment so uncomfortable is that Hasselbeck seemed completely by herself. Not only did some of the audience seem to chuckle at the joke, her co-hosts seemed peeved she even brought it up. Joy Behar joined Maher in defending the right of comedians to walk the line of good taste while Barbara Walters reminded Hasselbeck that she had had to deal with years of “Baba Wawa.”

Walters was clearly trying to ease the tension but it seemed that the slightly condescending way she told Hasselbeck that she’d “be fine,” didn’t do much to placate the host’s temper.

Watch the clip below:

(h/t HuffPo)

Ann Coulter Doubles Down To Joy Behar: ‘[Our Blacks] Are More Impressive. There Is No Question.’

Frances Martel — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:33:48 +0000

In the fallout of the Herman Cain sexual harassment story, Ann Coulter has quickly become one of the most prominent voices defending the Republican presidential candidate, calling racism against him and other black conservatives for their politics. She went a step further on Hannity last night, claiming that “our [conservative] blacks are so much better better than their blacks,” and tonight she proved to Joy Behar she didn’t just say that because she was among ideological friends.

On the program tonight, Behar quoted Coulter back to herself and asked her to clarify what she meant by “our blacks are so much better than their blacks,” which she said on Hannity last night. “Are you saying all the African Americans who are Democrats are stupid?” “No,” Coulter replied, “I’m saying Google Maxine Waters, Cynthia McKinney, and John Conyers,, or Google Allen West, Michael Steele, or Herman Cain.” “Ours are more impressive. There is no question about that,” she concluded.

Behar challenged her, claiming that Coulter only didn’t consider them impressive because she disagreed with them, and that liberals didn’t “despise” conservative blacks. “I like Michael Steele, he’s fine,” Behar offered. In response, Coulter noted that Waters had supported the LA riots and that “when Michael Steele was running for Senate, liberals showed up and rolled Oreos down the aisle at him.” She concluded that “the only racism you hear is against conservative blacks, and it is vicious.”

The segment via HLN below:

Martin London’s Letter To Madoff: Every Time You Eat, ‘I Want You To See Your Son’s Corpse Hanging Over Your Table’

Alex Alvarez — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:37:25 +0000

Martin London, who discovered the body of his late son-in-law Mark Madoff following Mark’s suicide, visited Joy Behar‘s HLN show Thursday to share a letter he had written — but hadn’t sent — to Mark’s father, Bernie Madoff.

London’s letter, which he admits to have written while he was “furious,” reveals the depths of his sadness and anger over the loss of his daughter’s husband and of Madoff’s role in his son’s demise:

Bernie,

While I will not send to you pictures of your grandchildren, there was one picture I do want you to see — the last picture of your son, Mark. You owe it to his widow, his children, his brother, his mother to try your best to see it in color and in 3D, to see what I saw when I walked into that apartment at seven thirty a.m. in the morning.

So. Here is what I wish for you, Bernie: First, I wish you a long life in prison. Second, here’s the plan, Bernie. Every time you sit down to eat, as you pick up your plastic fork, I want you to see your son’s corpse hanging from the rafter directly over your table. Right in front of you, Bernie, so at every meal, when you pick up that utensil, as you hold it in your hand ready to eat your prison meal, you see your son Mark. His white sweat socks are swaying ever so gently at your eye level, immediately above your food dish. And as you look up, Bernie, you see your firstborn son hanging there, his head at a left-leaning angle, looking down at you, asking “How could you do that to your son, who, up until two years before his death, had given you the greatest gift — his unconditional love for his father.”

Watch, via HLN:

Bette Midler To Joy Behar: ‘Sex With Geraldo Was Nothing To Write Home About’

Colby Hall — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:51:27 +0000

Bette Midler visited HLN’s The Joy Behar Show yesterday, and when she wasn’t offering to support the Occupy Wall Street protesters with port-a-potties, she shared some interesting details from her earlier career with host Joy Behar. When asked about the claim made by Geraldo Rivera in his own book that he and she had sex, Midler declared “sex with Geraldo was nothing to write home about!”

There must have been something in the stars yesterday that conspired to get Joy Behar’s in-studio television pals to discuss potentially embarrassing sex secrets. Yesterday on The View, Whoopi Goldberg discussed her vibrator habits, then later in the day Midler discussed making the beast with two backs with Geraldo. While the “Divine Miss M” seemed to recoil at the question asked by Behar, she seemed more upset that it was a detail written in the book more than her recollection of her tryst with Geraldo, who she added “was cute back then.”

Watch the segment below, courtesy of HLN:

Bette Midler Offers To Buy Occupy Wall Street Protesters Porta-Potties

Frances Martel — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:55:22 +0000

As the Occupy Wall Street continues to grow and refuses to depart Zuccotti Park, it seems to accumulate allies from the strangest places. The newest celebrity on the Occupy Wall Street bandwagon? Bette Midler, who told Joy Behar on her program today that she was “thrilled” to see young people “saying things that have to be said,” so much so that she offered to provide portable toilets for the occupiers.

The toilet discussion came about because of protests from the lower Manhattan community that the protesters are sullying the place up. When Behar brought the issue up, Midler suggested the families “send some down because toilets are cheap, porta-potties are cheap.” So cheap, in fact, that she offered to send them down herself– and tried to get Behar to go halfsies on the donation (Behar refused to be involved in any such plot).

On a serious note, Midler commented that, having lived through the protests of the 1960s, which, for her generation, “was just something that you did,” it was inspiring to see young people protesting again. “The point is,” despite politics, “she argued, “that they have organized themselves and they are saying things that have to be said.” She also chided the right for being “so old school” as to call the protesters “hippies”– “fifty years have passed, get a new line than ‘dirty hippie.’”

Midler also had a few words about Texas governor Rick Perry and his recent questionable comments about President Obama’s birth certificate. “I don’t think Rick Perry is sure of where he was born!” she joked.

The segment from tonight’s Joy Behar via CNN below:

Harry Belafonte To Joy Behar: Herman Cain Is A ‘Totally False’ ‘Bad Apple’ In The Black Community

Frances Martel — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:40:51 +0000

Weird things come in threes, and today the final chapter of “Legendary Crooners Make Surprisingly Bold Political Statements” arrived today with an exclusive Joy Behar interview with Harry Belafonte, where Belafonte pulls no punches on the damage he believes Herman Cain is doing to the black community. Commenting on the latter’s claim that he doesn’t see racism “hold[ing] anybody back in a big way today,” Belafonte called Cain a “bad apple” who has no authority to talk about “the pride of people of color.”

Behar opened the floor to the topic on her program tonight, noting Cain’s comments and asking for a response. “It’s very hard to comment on someone who is so denied intelligence,” Belafonte replied, “someone who has denied such a view of history.” Adding that Cain only believed that because “he happened to have good fortune, a moment when he broke through– the moment someone blinked,” he insisted statistics on the number of black people in the American prison system and the exorbitant unemployment rate in the black community clearly disproved Cain’s point.

Belafonte also had a personal comment or two for Cain, calling him “the latest incarnation of what is totally false for the needs of our community and the needs of our nation” and, generally, a “bad apple,” and denying that his good luck made him “the authority on the pride of people of color.” Given where the Cain campaign was at the beginning of America’s Odyssian voyage to 2012, getting slammed by Harry Belafonte may be a sign that Cain has finally arrived at the top tier.

The clip via Headline News below:

In Wake Of Nancy Grace’s Nipplegate, Joy Behar Shows Us How To Avoid A Nip Slip

Alex Alvarez — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:48:13 +0000

On her HLN show, host Joy Behar commented on colleague and Dancing With The Stars contestant Nancy Grace‘s recent “nipplegate.” To some, it appeared that Grace’s areola unleashed itself on an unsuspecting public while she danced, although Grace insists she was wearing pasties at the time. “To me, it looked like a Frisbee,” confided Behar.

Behar then reached into her top and pulled out what she referred to as a “Sassy Nip” — essentially a pastie for covering one’s nipples should one be unable or unwilling to don a brassiere. Probably no need to use one if your nipples are more morose or apathetic than sassy, we guess.

Take a look at the educational segment, via CNN:

‘Millionaire Matchmaker’ Patti Stanger Tries (And Fails) To Apologize For Offensive Gay Comments

Jon Bershad — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:32:28 +0000

If you’re like me, then, only a few hours ago, you had no idea who Patti Stanger is. Hell, the phrase “Millionaire Matchmaker” makes me want to look into prices for mountainside hermit cabins and, when a friend linked to an article entitled “In Praise of Queens” this morning on Tumblr, I assumed it was about the borough. That being said, I’m as fascinated by a big media meltdown as much as the next guy so, for everyone who hasn’t been following the story, here’s a run down on why a large community is furious at Stanger and how she made things even worse today on HLN.

Stanger, who got in trouble only last week after advising single women they needed to be dumber to get a man, got in a lot of heat for allegedly purporting negative gay stereotypes while guesting on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.

That’s right. She said mean things about gay people. While on Bravo. Bravo. That’s like going into a lion’s den and doing a live TV show where you say manes look stupid.

She was there to give relationship advice and, during her time there, told callers that gay men can’t have monogamous relationships, Jewish people lie, and said an audience member looked “straight” and that he should take it as “a compliment.”

Jeez. Maybe she’s just single and following her own advice.

Unsurprisingly, it was time for a full scale apology campaign. However, during her appearance on HLN’s Joy Behar Show, she just managed to make things worse. Behar gave her an out by asking her if her comments on gay promiscuity were due to male nature, but Stanger doubled down, explaining that gay men “whip it out at eye lock.”

Nice. Even CNN titled their online clip “Did Millionaire Matchmaker apology backfire?”

Lesson here: don’t make massive generalizations about minority groups on live television. And when you’re given a chance to apologize, you smile and point out that you only meant some of that group. Because nothing describes the entirety of a group.

Unless that group is “Millionaire Matchmakers.” I hear all those people are kind of dumb.

Here’s her HLN appearance:

Levi Johnston Tells Joy Behar That The RNC Did Not Like His Mullet In 2008

Colby Hall — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:50:26 +0000

Levi Johnston‘s career/persona cannot be defined with with one simple descriptive. He isn’t just the father to Bristol Palin‘s child; nor is he just a part-time model for Playgirl magazine or aspiring actor. He is also, of course, a published author of a book called Deer in the Headlights. While promoting the book last night on The Joy Behar Show, Johnston shared a story about his sudden entry into the public eye back in August of 2008, and how RNC stylists quickly made him over in advance of the St. Paul GOP convention.

While it’s almost hard to imagine a time when Sarah Palin lived in relative obscurity in the lower 48, that actually was the case when she was surprisingly chosen to be Senator John McCain‘s Vice Presidential running mate in August of 2008. Since her selection happened in the last few day before the GOP convention, her family (including Levi) were almost immediately swept up by RNC officials and “made over” in an image considered more befitting of a Vice Presidential family.

This is the story told in the segment below by a charmingly lucid Levi Johnston, who reveals that he was expected to endure a manicure, spray tan and wardrobe change. He apparently declined most of the makeover, but he did agree to lose the mullet. He did not share, however, whether or not he nuked another Grandma’s apple pie and hung his head in shame. Oh no.

Watch the clip below, courtesy of HLN:

Dr. Phil: Casey Anthony’s Mother Believes Brain Tumor To Blame For Her Daughter’s Behavior

Alex Alvarez — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:12:55 +0000

Dr. Phil recently sat down with Casey Anthony‘s parents, Cindy and George, in order to try to gain some sort of insight into what they were thinking leading up to their daughter’s trial. How, Phil wanted to know, does one go from having a supposedly happy, healthy childhood to reportedly burying one’s own daughter in the dirt instead of reporting her death? He shared one bombshell with HLN’s Joy Behar.

Apparently, Anthony’s mother believes her daughter’s actions may be the result of a brain tumor. She reveals Casey suffered a seizure in 2007, and another about a year and a half later. Dr. Phil followed up by asking whether any medical tests were done on Anthony that may have revealed the existence of a tumor. The answer? “Not then.”

“This is not just Cindy hallucinating,” opined Behar. Phil agreed, adding that he feels she is “desperate to reconcile within herself how her daughter could do these things or this thing.”

Have a look at the segment, courtesy of CNN:

Maxim Editor Joe Levy Compares Michele Bachmann To Hitler

Alex Alvarez — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:06:09 +0000

Joe Levy, editor in chief of Maxim, that veritable Bible of celebrity underboob, was a panelist on Joy Behar‘s HLN show last night. Talk, naturally, turned to Michele Bachmann‘s Newsweek cover, as well as to Kanye West, who compared himself to Adolf Hitler (“People look at me like I’m [fudging] insane, like I’m Hitler.”) because God forbid anyone go a day without discussing Kanye West.

Behar turned to her guests and asked “‘Why is it always Hitler? Why not that Bachelor? Why not Osama Bin Laden? Why not Saddam Hussein?” Why not, for that matter, the Pillsbury doughboy, that twittering demon-blob who is clearly the very manifestation of pure, unadulterated evil?

Levy weighed in:

Why not Michele Bachmann? ‘People look at me like I’ve got crazy eyes; I’m Michele Bachmann.’

Ughghghghgh, Joe! JOE.

Newsbusters’ Erin Brown sees this as Levy comparing Bachmann to Hitler, and I’m inclined to agree with that assessment. He’s lumping Bachmann in with the likes of Hitler, Hussein and bin Laden because he doesn’t like her and thinks she is bad.

Say what you will about Bachmann, her fundamentalism and her stance on homosexuality, but, as far as I can tell, she didn’t send thousands of gay people, Jewish people, gypsies and others to their deaths. No one has lost his mother because of Bachmann’s thoughts about the debt ceiling. So let’s try and put our arguments and our issues with politicians into some sort of perspective before the national discussion devolves into “lol @ her eyes” and a series of fart noises while things like, gee I don’t know, Dominionism slip by unaddressed. Because, now, this is what happens: anything remotely intelligent Levy may have to say about Bachmann and her policies have essentially been rendered white noise, as he is now the guy who compared a woman he doesn’t like to Hitler and bin Laden. It’s just a joke! Lol, sure, but it’s one that is so lazy and overused that it has become entirely stripped of any shock value or humor it could possibly have, even when obviously used as a hyperbole. That’s the point Behar was making, and it’s a point Levy brought on home. Plus, the reality is that comparing someone to Hitler says a whole lot about the speaker, without providing a whole lot of information about the person being discussed.

Are you worried Dominionism is unconstitutional? Say that. Do you vehemently disagree with Bachmann’s stance on gay rights? Articulate that. Do you worry that she’s not intelligent, or serious, or thoughtful? Do you believe she’s dangerous? Then you had better make damn sure you aren’t undermining your own argument by reducing her to a harmless caricature or by drawing more attention to your joke than to the intent behind it. It’s not about liberals versus conservatives, or men versus women; it’s about not shooting yourself in the foot when you’re trying to offer criticism.

Take a look at the segment for yourselves, from HLN:

h/t Newsbusters

Summerslam! Biggest Cable News Personalities Meet Their Professional Wrestling Look-Alikes!

Matt Schneider — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:06:31 +0000

With World Wrestling Entertainment’s SummerSlam this Sunday night on Pay-Per-View, it seemed like an appropriate time to realize that the primetime cable news universe can often resemble the world of professional wrestling. With various hosts often feuding with one another, and frequently giving passionate “promos” regarding why their network or their show is the best, it’s time now to recognize who each host actually is inspired by in the WWE and then to pit the oversized personalities of cable news up against one another in a no-holds barred showdown!

Today you will learn which wrestlers are the “look-alikes” for every primetime cable host. Tomorrow, the fantasy match-ups will take place in order to crown one “King of the Ring” and to determine who is the most dominant talk show host in all of sports entertainment!

The Four Matches Between Timeslot Competitors:
Match 1 –> Chris Matthews vs. Shep Smith vs. John King vs. Jane Velez-Mitchell
Match 2 –> Lawrence O’Donnell vs. Bill O’Reilly vs. Wolf Blitzer (pinch hitting) vs. Nancy Grace
Match 3 –> Rachel Maddow vs. Sean Hannity vs. Piers Morgan vs. Dr. Drew Pinsky
Match 4 –> Ed Schultz vs. Greta Van Susteren vs. Anderson Cooper vs. Joy Behar

Check out who each of the cable news hosts most resembles from the history of professional wrestling, along with a description explaining the connection below each picture. Let’s get ready to rumble!!!

Chris 'The American Dream' Matthews inspired by Dusty Rhodes (1 of 16)

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Fast talking and full of random analogies, the jovial Dusty Rhodes is just like . . . Matthews!

Frank Rich Condemns ‘Murdoch Culture’ With Joy Behar: ‘It’s Thuggery’

Alex Alvarez — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:24:12 +0000

Yesterday, we shared New York magazine writer Frank Rich‘s article chronicling his own and others’ experiences with what he referred to as “bullying” on the part of Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp and its employees. Rich accused the company, which he referred to as a “media colossus,” as routinely resorting to intimidation in its continued attempts to maximize power and silence critics.

Rich paid a visit to Joy Behar‘s HLN show to discuss his experiences further and to issue a warning that the “whole Murdoch culture” evidenced by the News of the World hacking scandal has spread to the United States:

Well, I think that we’re deluding ourselves if we think the whole sort of Murdoch culture has not spread to America. We’re reading all this sort of exotic stuff about having British police on the payroll. Bernie Kerik was on the Murdoch payroll. He had a huge advance from Harper Collins. And you know, the piece I’ve written in New York that’s out today, I talk about the bullying things that they do. It’s not just about politics; it’s not just about Fox being right-wing. It’s about them going after people who are personal enemies, Bill O’Reilly having producers stalk people on the street.

Rich believes the Murdoch empire allegedly lashes out in this because it is motivated by “power and money, punishing enemies that they don’t like, for reasons that could be personal or business, not just political.”

“It’s thuggery,” he concluded, agreeing with Behar’s assessment of Murdoch. “And I think this scandal is going to play out like Watergate for a couple of years. We’ll see where all of it lands in this country.”

Have a look at the segment, via HLN:

Casey Anthony’s Lawyer Squirms As Joy Behar Asks, ‘Would You Let Her Babysit Your Kids?’

Mark Joyella — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:19:14 +0000

When just the right question catches an interview subject off guard–and the cameras are rolling–well, kids, we call that the beauty of television. And it was in full display on Wednesday night’s Joy Behar, when Behar sat down with Casey Anthony lawyer Dorothy Clay Sims. Behar got Sims squirming with a simple yet brilliant question: “would you let Casey babysit your kids? You say she’s innocent.” Strange smile. Long pause. Deflection. “My kids are older.” Behar says “let’s say they were younger, would you leave her with your children?” Even stranger smile. Longer pause. Weirder deflection. “I…I liked Casey Anthony. I came to trust her. And that’s a… that’s a really…” Long pause.

She never exactly answers the question, just says a few times that she “trusts” Casey Anthony. Behar says “well, I guess if you think she’s one hundred percent innocent, you would.” Odd eyeroll from the attorney. Simply put, this is a great moment well worth watching.

Catch it here, from HLN:

Ann Coulter To Mediaite: Jon Stewart’s Audience Is ‘A Bunch Of Losers’ And Other Enlightening Bon Mots

Frances Martel — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:47:44 +0000

Ann Coulter fears mobs. Her aversion to uncontrolled rabbles is at the heart of her new book, Demonic, and colors everything from her disdain for political figures that engage in blind “groupthink” to her lament that Jon Stewart deserves a smarter audience than the one he has. Mediaite caught up with Coulter last Friday why America could face a second French Revolution, which cable news interviewer lied about reading her new book, and the smartest people on MSNBC.

I’ve noticed that in your book you give fair amount of space to Jon Stewart as well as “serious” critics, and given the “French Revolution backdrop” you provide, I was wondering how you fit a figure like that into that analogy. I was wondering if you could comment on that place in the culture versus someone in the New York Times, for example, saying angering things.

I put the New York Times in about in the same category– at least in terms of the mob’s behavior– as Jon Stewart, where you have these, let’s face it, low-IQ kids and their entire identity is “I’m Jon Stewart’s biggest fan.” They put it on their resumés. That’s their whole identity. By the way, I think Jon Stewart is very funny. His audience is by and large a bunch of losers wildly applauding when they hear the proper name, and you have a similar behavior towards the New York Times. “Oh, to be cited in the New York Times!” “Oh, to get the approval of the New York Times! You rarely see a direct leader of a mob, but you see some leaders that everyone is deferring to and this is the in-crowd and these are the ones we’re trying to impress. That’s the status anxiety chapter of my book. I can base articles on high school bullying– low-status kids trying to impress the high-status kids.

That’s a very wide comparison to draw between the New York Times and Jon Stewart– one is one of America’s oldest institutions and the other is some guy who used to have a show on MTV in the 1990s and has somehow become a pundit. It’s hard to see from any other perspective how, other than influence, they are similar.

Right, and that’s the only way in which I’m comparing them. They are the ones that can get the mob to move. Who else would be in this category– perhaps Lady Gaga. She’s not even a writer– she’s a singer. Could you imagine these dorky video store clerks that they are defined by what music they have on their iPods?

Do you fear one over the other? Which do you think could have more of an impact?

It’s more their followers than them. They’re all very different– NPR, the New York Times, Jon Stewart, Lady Gaga. It’s more their followers, and followers they are. I suppose that’s good enough for some people. Me, I don’t think I’d be happy being a follower, but some people love to be followers and these are the ones the crowd likes to follow to feel good about themselves.

Well, and leaders like to be followed, too. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

Yes, though I would say in Jon Stewart’s defense I suspect he would much rather have a smarter audience that laughs at his jokes and doesn’t applaud his jokes.

It’s a common criticism that the media is full of “infotainment” or pure entertainment instead of actual rhetoric people believe, and the way you describe mob behavior, all they do is listen and then react to what they hear. And it’s a criticism directed at you, too: how much of your rhetoric is things that you actually believe versus things that you think people will listen to or enjoy?

I try to do both! I put a lot research into my books, I’m making it serious points, but I want them to be interesting.

Do you think that’s the same across the board?

It really is striking to me how these are distinctive characteristics that characterize liberals and not conservatives, from the creation of myths and the worship of their leaders as messiahs and idols. We really don’t have that and we’re not really very good followers. Reagan wasn’t even the most popular conservative his first year in office. I read through eight years on Nexis of what conservatives had to say about him back then, when we were the New Right. If you look at the terminology at the time, the New Right was constantly attacking Reagan, threatening to primary him. I suspect it goes back to a book I wrote back about three books ago– Godless– that is certainly reflected in polls that conservatives and Republicans by and large are more likely to believe in God, so there’s a vertical relationship. You don’t have to care what the people around you think. Whereas with liberals, if you don’t believe in a real god, then those around you, i.e. the crowd, becomes much more important. It is striking how conservatives don’t seem to care as much of what Sean Hannity thinks of us, or “I’m Sean Hannity’s biggest fan.”

NEXT PAGE: Why Glenn Beck can talk about the Nazis, and how America could have had its own French Revolution.