Joy Behar returned to “The View” on Tuesday after nearly a month away, telling viewers that a hard fall inside the studio dislocated her shoulder and caused pain “worse than childbirth.” The 84-year-old cohost walked out to Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back” and joked that producers should have chosen “God Save the Queen.” Then she explained the absence. “I went down hard in this building,” she said. She called the pain “worse than childbirth.” She also described a three-hour MRI, during which she was sedated, and turned it into a punchline.
The injury became public on Oct. 1. Cohost Sunny Hostin told viewers that day that Behar had dislocated her shoulder and was recovering. Behar also missed a show marking her 84th birthday the following week. Whoopi Goldberg teased her on air, noting that Behar shares a birthday with Vladimir Putin but, unlike him, does not have the Russian plague. Goldberg later read a message from Behar saying that at 21 she would have bounced back the next day.
The break fed speculation about her standing on the panel. One report claimed producers wanted her removed. A representative for the show told Entertainment Weekly that “there is no truth” to it. The rebuttal matters because Behar is among the most durable figures in daytime television. She has sat on the panel since the show’s 1997 debut, when Barbara Walters assembled the original lineup.
This was not her first extended absence. She missed six consecutive episodes after a Jan. 23 broadcast, her longest gap in recent years. She also missed four episodes in autumn after a household mishap. The show’s schedule softens some missed days: Behar usually has Mondays off, while Goldberg sits out Fridays.
Behar sounded moved by her reception. She thanked the audience for a lovely welcome and said she was “verklempt.” She told her cohosts she misses the table when she is away. Behar has not described her recovery plan or any limits on her schedule. For now, the Hot Topics table is full again.
