Joy Behar Mourns Her ‘Mentor’ Barbara Walters: ‘I’ll Miss Her’

Joy Behar paid tribute to Barbara Walters after her decease astatine the property of 93. The comedian, who has been a co-host of The View — which was created by Barbara — since 1997 appeared on ABC to remember the tv legend. “She became a mentor. She’s precise overmuch the relation exemplary for a batch of radical successful showbiz and the quality satellite for sure…she had a enactment ethic you couldn’t deny,” Joy shared arsenic she reflected connected Barbara’s beingness and their narration during a telephone interrogation connected Dec. 31.

“She was ever prepared and she was ever moving connected her material. She didn’t spell retired determination and didn’t cognize what she was doing. That was an important happening to learn,” the 80-year-old recalled, besides sharing that Barbara had an unexpected consciousness of humor. “She could person a laugh, person fun, archer a soiled joke. She was a batch of fun!…We’ve had a batch of laughs connected camera and disconnected camera,” she besides said during the interview.

“Certainly, [she’s] meant a batch to maine to my enactment beingness and vocation — she came to spot maine bash basal up astatine a payment and that’s however she got to cognize me….she understood that humor,” Joy said of their archetypal gathering successful the precocious ’90s. “She said, ‘who is that woman?’ And that was the opening of her deciding to telephone maine and enactment maine connected the air,” adding, “I’ll miss her.”

Joy and Barbara had a longstanding moving narration dating backmost to the aboriginal days of The View. While Joy was not portion of the archetypal full-time formed and initially a fill-in big — she was rapidly added to the radical arsenic a regular big during the archetypal season.

Barbara Walters and Joy Behar are seen unneurotic successful a formed photograph for ‘The View’. (Everett Collection)

The amusement was described by Barbara astatine motorboat arsenic “a speech amusement featuring 4 oregon 5 women ‘of antithetic backgrounds, antithetic generations, and antithetic opinions,’ who would sermon the topics of the day, mixing wit with intelligent debate” during the archetypal “Hot Topics” segment, followed by impermanent interviews successful the amusement and governmental spaces.

Joy has been a fixture on The View since 1997, leaving for conscionable 2 years from 2013 aft she was fired. “Somebody wanted maine gone,” said backmost successful 2017 to PEOPLE. “It was not 100 percent my choice. When they told maine they weren’t renewing, I said, ‘Good, I’m retired of here.’ I didn’t similar the mode the amusement was going astatine that time,” she said of the 2 twelvemonth break, wherever she inactive appeared arsenic impermanent host. Despite saying she was “glad to beryllium fired” to TIME magazine, she yet returned full-time successful 2015, and is presently inactive a big connected the series.

Before being actually fired, it turns retired Joy was astir connected the chopping artifact acknowledgment to Barbara herself backmost successful 2006 for accidentally revealing that Rosie O’Donnell was joining the cast. Joy recalled the the script connected Hulu’s Behind the Table: A View Reunion. “[EW called and] said, ‘Oh, and Rosie O’Donnell’s coming connected the show. And conjecture who told them?’” Joy said, recalling Barbara’s speech with her. After Joy guessed it was possibly Meredith Vieira who spilled the beans, Barbara past replied, “‘No, you! Joy Behar did that. And I privation you to cognize that I’m not renewing your contract.” Notably, Joy remained connected the bid astatine hte time,

Barbara retired from the amusement successful 2014, and was fixed a legendary nonstop disconnected by her co-hosts — including Joy — arsenic good arsenic galore different women she inspired successful television.

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