Joy Behar Recalls Her First Time Performing for Barbara Walters — and How She Was the Only Person 'Not Laughing'

Mar. 15, 2025

Joy Behar (left) and Barbara Walters.Photo:Sonia Moskowitz/Getty; John Lamparski/WireImage

Sonia Moskowitz/Getty; John Lamparski/WireImage

Joy Behardidn’t exactly get off on the right foot the first time she met the lateBarbara Walters.

Behar, 82, was one of the original panelists onThe View, which Walters created withBill Geddiein 1997. On the Jan. 14 episode ofFinding Your Roots, the television personality recalled the first impression that Walters — whodied in 2022 at age 93— had of her when they met years ago.

“So this friend of mine called me up and he said, ‘Look, we’re doing something forMilton Berleat the Waldorf Astoria, it’s his 89th birthday party. Could you come up and do 10 minutes?’ And I said okay. Cause Milton Berle! I got excited — no money involved here,” Behar toldHenry Louis Gates Jr.

“I got on stage and I did this whole bit about how… a man can get a woman no matter what age he is, no matter what condition he’s in. Like, look at Milton Berle, he was 89, the wife’s, like, 55 or something. And I made the comparison toSalman Rushdie,” Behar continued. “He was in hiding for 10 years, he got married three times. While he was in hiding! So I said, you know, ‘Who came to the [wedding]? Was it an Avon lady? Who was it?’ Anyway, I did that bit and a couple of other things.”

After her 10-minute window was up, Behar returned to her seat and asked her husbandSteve Janowitzwhat he thought.

“He said, ‘Well everyone was laughing except Barbara Walters,'” Behar recalled.

Joy Behar (left) and Barbara Walters for ‘The View’ in 1999.Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com/Alamy

Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com/Alamy

At the time, Behar thought to herself, “Oh well, who cares, I’m not gonna work for Barbara Walters,” but it was only a few months later that she got a call “from Barbara Walters’ people” asking her to “try out with these other women to see if we can do the job” that would evolve intoThe View.

“And then I got the job,” Behar said.

When Gates, 74, asked if Behar ever brought it up to Walters once they worked together, Behar said she did — and revealed what Walters' explanation was.

“She said, ‘I was studying you,'” Behar recalled.

“The View” celebrates 4000 shows with guest co-hosts Barbara Walters and Joy Behar on March 27, 2015.Lou Rocco/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

This isn’t the first time Behar has reflected on the past as of late. On a recent episode ofThe View’sBehind the Tablepodcast, she recalled the advice her agent had given her when she was initially offered a spot as a panelist onThe Viewin the ’90s.

“The call comes for this job to doThe Viewwith Barbara Walters. Do you know thatmy agent told me not to take it?" she recalled.

Behar — who has been a panelist on the show for 25 of its 28 years on-air, barringa brief break from 2013 to 2015— said she knewThe View"would be a smart show with [Walters] behind it," despite her agent’s belief that she wouldn’t be paid enough.

She told her agent, “‘It’s in New York City with Barbara Walters. I don’t wanna live in L.A. I wanna live in New York City [and] work with Barbara Walters.'”

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Finding Your Rootsairs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS andThe Viewairs weekdays on ABC (check local listings).

source: people.com